Musah Superior
25 June 2008
opinion
In the 2000 general elections, the New Patriotic Party led by the then presidential candidate, John Agyekum Kufuor, presented a programme of hope and change to Ghanaians and vigorously pursued those to sign a social contract with the Party to take over the then badly damaged country, which desperately needed rescue.
Ghanaians wholeheartedly accepted our proposals and went into agreement with our Party to save the country from total collapse. It was a programme for the country to go back to work, for overcoming what was universally acknowledged to be the gravest economic crises in our history .In 2004, Ghanaians reaffirmed their confidence in the NPP.
The NPP took over the administration with a huge challenge to transform the collapsed economy, social breakdown, and unemployment, low morale and depressed society. It was a hard task and required a composed team to deliver.
I can confidently say without doubt that, we have been vindicated as there are clear changes and massive improvements in the last eight years compared with the previous governments of the unelected PNDC and the NDC led by Jerry Rawlings and almost the same team in almost two dacades.We formed a government, got Ghana back to work and showed our determination to fulfil the programme which we put before the people. We have achieved greatly and today Ghana is a vibrant country with huge prospects.
We should roll out our Party's vision to the good people of Ghana. This is why looking into the future with hope and excitement should be one of key factors in determining who is capable to lead our dear country in the next four years and face the challenges ahead with vigour and efficiency. Ghanaians are going to decide which Party can be trusted to be entrusted the future of themselves and their families.
All political parties must therefore be judged on their willingness to undertake measures which would enlist the support and enthusiasm of the people. They will judge on the policies which each Party puts forward. More importantly, they will judge which Party has the calibre of men and women with the zeal, experience, exposure and courage to be responsible for carrying out those policies for the betterment of the people.
The Presidential candidate of our Party and his team fit exactly into the above analysis. Nana Akufo Addo's vision of believing in Ghana and consistently mobilising the people in believing in ourselves makes him the only person to lead the country into the challenges ahead.
Nana is inspired by idealism and believes genuinely that Ghanaians are capable, efficient and hardworking and together we will establish and build a working country. He believes that the only way to enable Ghana to win through these universal economic crises is for the country to be led by an assertive and strong leader who will be prepared to take difficult decisions in the supreme interest of the country.
Nana Addo and the NPP come before the public to ask for a strong mandate for the vision set our in our manifesto. A strong NPP government, with the endorsement and co-operation of the Ghanaian people will make constructive progress towards building a fair society.
In this light, I propose the following for the consideration of the manifesto committee.
1. 45 Ministers and deputies or less to form the executive arm of government under a renewed NPP administration. The Ministries of Women and Children should be scrapped and made a department in the Ministry of Social Welfare.
The following Ministries should also be scrapped.
a. Ministries of Aviation and Ports and Harbours and Highways. They should be departments in the Ministry of Transportation.
b. Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs. The National House of Chiefs should be supported and strengthened to handle chieftaincy issues.
c. Ministry of Presidential Affairs. The Office of the Chief of staff should be responsible for Presidential Affairs.
2. All Ministries should have one deputy except for the Finance, education and Health which can have two deputies.
3. Some government departments and agencies should be relocated to the other cities to give more credibility to the decentralisation project which in my view seem not to be working.
5. Ministers should not be provided free accommodation. All ministers must be privately accommodated as in other government employees. All government vehicles should be parked at the various Ministries after close of work and no Minister should use official cars for their private business. This will prevent a lot of waste in the system.
6. Finally all Ministers and heads of government institutions should be periodically supervised by the President and some appointed Supervisors such as the Vice President and the Chief of staff. This will enable Ministers to give first hand account one to one to the President or the appointed line manager and also discuss issues with the President directly and account for his stewardship for at least every three months.
The NPP is asking Ghanaians for their support to carry through policies which will work for all and sundry and create effective measures of economic and social reconstruction.
We are a Party of hope and Nana Akufo-Addo is a man of credibility, substance and greatly exposed internationally. He believes that our country must move to the next level where every Ghanaian is provided assured security, good and affordable healthcare and education.
God bless Ghana, God bless Ghanaians and God bless NPP
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