Kofi Agyepong
4 November 2008
The vice presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated his commitment to lead the cause of the youth if the NPP retains power.
In an interaction with some youth leaders in Accra, Dr. Bawumia said, "my selection by Nana Akufo-Addo as his Vice should be a signal for you that you are paramount in NPP's next stage of development."
A Nana Akufo-Addo led government, he said, would listen and make decisions that would benefit the youth.
"We would like you to think big, dream big and demand from us," he said.
Unlike God, he said, Nana Akufo-Addo and himself do not know everything, "and we would rely on you to develop this country."
Dr. Bawumia said, as a country "we have made several mistakes and it is time to move ahead and correct them."
Though he admitted that there are serious challenges ahead, he urged the youth to grab the bull by the horn and change the country.
He said Ghana under an Akufo-Addo presidency is likely to attain total economic independence and become self-reliant rather than relying on foreign donors.
This, he said, is due to the solid economic foundation President Kufuor has laid for the country to take off.
Dr. Bawumia said the need for economic independence lies in the heart of the 'Believe in Ghana' concept originated by the NPP presidential candidate, which emphasizes the 'can do spirit' of the Ghanaian.
"We don't want to be dependent on anybody because we believe in Ghana and we can manage our economy well," he said.
Dr Bawumia, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, cited a strategic decision taken by the Kufuor Administration which made it possible for the country to wean itself from borrowing from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund adding. "it was not by accident," he said
Although it would not be easy to attain the heights a Akufo-Addo presidency had set for itself, the NPP vice presidential candidate was of the view that it is important for the nation to dream big. "There is no reason we can't advance close to the West," he said.
Dr Bawumia suggested radical thinking among the youth and Ghanaians in general.
This, he said, would reflect the instinctive can do mentality of the Ghanaian.
Touching on the youth policy for the country, he said Nana Akufo-Addo believes in the ability of the youth and proposed the need to institute a National Youth Congress, where issues concerning Ghana's future leaders would be brought to the government's attention for redress.
To make teaching attractive, Dr Bawumia reaffirmed the position of the NPP manifesto on education which states that teachers would be motivated through improved conditions of service.
More than one hundred and fifty youth leaders attended the event.
Though Dr. Bawumia answered most of the questions posed to him, he was also neutral on those that he had no answers to.
"That is what we want, politicians should stop telling us what they don't know....Bawumia impressed me, if he did not know he will tell you," a youth leader told the ADM.
A student from the Pentecost University told ADM that "well, I am baffled...for a politician to tell you that he does not know something, well, Bawumia has set the pace."
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