Don’t fear me – Akufo-Addo to V/R

New Patriotic Party flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo has once again assured the people of the Volta region that they have nothing to fear if he wins the 2016 elections.

The Volta region is the stronghold of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), but the NPP said it will not discriminate against them if they come to power.

“I am here to renew our personal relationship, and hopefully to use that as a basis for this new relationship between the New Patriotic Party and the Volta Region,” the three-time presidential candidate of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition said when he paid a courtesy call on the Anwomefia of Anloga, Togbui Sri III, in the presence of 40 of his sub-chiefs from the Anlo State, on Thursday.

He added: “You have nothing to fear in me, nothing whatsoever to fear in me. J.A. Kufuor in the eight years that he was in office indicated to the people of the region and to the Ghanaians that it was possible to rule Ghana without discrimination, and without ill-will or favour towards any particular person, but in the overall interest of our country. Volta Region got many of the things it was entitled to in his era. I am coming to build on that legacy and add more to it.”

Commencing a four-day tour of the region, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that it is not a secret that the relation between the NPP and the Volta Region has not been a particularly good one, and the purpose for his tour is to help improve that relationship.

“I believe that the time has come for us to find a way to build a better relationship, and that is why I am here, through your good offices, to build a relationship of confidence and trust between our party and the Volta Region, its chiefs and people,” he said.

He acknowledged that “many things have been said about our party and myself in the region – very denigrating things. Things to suggest that there is some kind of hostility on the part of the party and of myself towards the region. I want to use this occasion, through you and the chiefs under you, to let you know that there is not an iota of truth in this propaganda.”

Nana Akufo-Addo maintained that “it is a propaganda that has been done because it serves some people’s political interests. There is not a tribal agenda of the party or of myself. Our agenda is a national agenda. What we can do to bring progress and prosperity to our nation – that is the NPP agenda.”

He reassured that the NPP’s plan for development of the country is meant to encompass all parts of Ghana, without difference and without discrimination. Thus, it was imperative for the people of the Region to have confidence and repose their trust in the NPP, so Ghana can be returned onto the path of progress and prosperity.

“These are not good times for Ghana and I don’t believe there is any honest person who can state that these are good times in Ghana. They are not good times in Ghana. We can build a better time for ourselves in Ghana, and we can build a stronger and more prosperous nation. I believe from the very bottom of my soul that it is possible,” he said.

Akufo-Addo reiterated his belief that, in the NPP, “we have the leadership, the men and women, if given the opportunity, who can make Ghana prosperous and fulfil the dreams of our ancestors who began the struggle for the freedom of our country. For that to happen, the NPP needs the full and active support of the people of this important region.”

The NPP flagbearer, thus, extended a “genuine, sincere and trustworthy” hand of friendship and co-operation to the people of the Volta Region, stating that “my presence in Ghanaian politics is not to enrich myself or my family. I came into politics because I understood it to be about service. It is not about self-enrichment and it is certainly not about corruption.”

He added that “it would be one of the watershed moments in the history of our country if this year the Volta region was to say, ‘after all these efforts that you have made, Akufo-Addo we are going to try you this time. We are going to put our trust in you and try you’. I came here to say that if you arrive at that conclusion, I will not disappoint you.”

To the people of the region, he further assured that the NPP has an agenda for the development of Ghana, its industry, agriculture and infrastructure.

He noted that mini-harbours were to be constructed along the entire coastal line of Ghana by the NPP government when Gladys Asmah was Minister for Fisheries, a project which has been abandoned by the current Mahama government.

Thus, a harbour at Keta, Nana Akufo-Addo said, will be constructed when he wins the elections, stressing that “in her memory, we are going to realise that vision if we get the opportunity. We are going to expand the work that Kufuor did on the sea defense wall – these are the projects we are going to do to bring life, jobs and prosperity back to the region.”

Nana Akufo-Addo added that his government will intensify and accelerate efforts to determine if the Volta Basin has oil deposits in commercial quantities.

“We are here to ask for your intercession and that of the Chiefs with whom you work to say, we want to turn over a new leaf in the book of Ghana. A new leaf that is going to say tribal and ethnic considerations are not the issue that will determine the life of our country in the 21st century. What will determine the life of our nation is competence, quality, honesty and integrity in the ordering of our state. Once that message goes through, the impetus that it will give to the nation is incalculable,” he added.

Togui Sri III on his part welcomed Nana Akufo-Addo into Anloga, and thanked him for the courtesy of his visit.

He admonished the NPP flagbearer and the party in the region to conduct their campaign strictly based on issues and concerns of Ghanaians. He further indicated that Nana Akufo-Addo was welcome and free to campaign in the region, and at any time of his choosing.