Ernest Kofi Adu
9 September 2008
Kumasi — THE CHIEF Executive Officer of the land, President John Agyekum Kufuor says it will be a mistake and a taboo for Ghanaians to vote the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) back to power. This is because the NDC, which is being led by Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, lacked the capacity and aptitude to prosecute sound economic policies that can help move the developmental agenda of Ghana forward.
Speaking at a well attended rally held in his honour at Abuakwa in the Atwima Nwabigya District, where he began his political career as a Legislator in 1969, President Kufuor said the (P) NDC government could not use their 19-year-old rule to deliver the nation from its economic doldrums in order to better the conditions of Ghanaians, and he therefore, can not understand why the NDC think they can deliver this time round.
According to President Kufuor, Ghana was and is still blessed with rich mineral and other resources that require people with high brain power to manage it for the betterment of the nation.
He urged the people to vote massively for the New Patriotic Party's (NPP's) Presidential nominee, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the upcoming December polls. He assured the gathering that Nana Addo would take over the reins of government from him, come January 7, 2009, because the NPP flagbearer is most suitable for the job.
President Kufuor asserted that Nana Akufo-Addo, who is being backed by a relatively young man as his running mate, with a strong financial and economics backgroung, in the person Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, would bring accelerated growth to the economy to achieve economic freedom for this country.
Spinning for his party and announcing scores of development projects undertaken, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces stated that his government had made it possible for the poverty-stricken children to enjoy good education from Kindergarten to Junior High School (JHS) without paying any fees.
Aside this, the NPP government continues to provide school children with food everyday, amidst the construction of school blocks, dormitories, libraries and halls of residence among others at all levels of education - basic, secondary and tertiary - across the country, to create a congenial atmosphere for learning, he added. According to President Kufuor, government has absorbed the cost of antenatal care for pregnant women and would continue to take care of nursing mothers up to six-months, and with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in place to ensure reduction of infant mortality and maternal death during pregnancy.
The President also advised Ghanaians not to abuse the NHIS policy, but rather act responsibly towards it. He also mentioned the numerous road constructions that are on-going in the country and indicated that they were to make traveling and commerce easier and convenient for the country's citizens.
The President said government had increased the price of cocoa from ¢1.2 million to ¢1.6 million and would continue to pay bonuses to the cocoa farmers two times in a year, as well as spray their farms free of charge. "This is the money we are putting into your pocket," he stressed in Akan.
President Kufuor took time to chastise critics of his government, who claim not to have money in their pockets, despite the macro economic stability of the country's economy. According to him, money is available in the country for those who want to work for it and that people of discerning minds should not listen to such negative comments from those who are simply being lazy and want to enjoy what they have not toiled for.
"When did someone have money in his pocket after refusing to work?" He asked rhetorically.
On the oil find, Mr. Kufuor told the crowd that he was putting measures in place, including laws, to regulate the revenues that will accrue from it, and added that the revenue would be utilized for the benefit of all Ghanaians, irrespective of tribe or region.
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