The 2016 Presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Chiefs and people of the Volta Region not to have any fears in him as he leads the main opposition party in the November 7 polls.
Nana Akufo-Addo assured the people of the Volta region that like former President Agyekum Kufuor, his presidency, in 2017, will distribute the resources and development of the country without discrimination.
“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,” he said.
The NPP flagbearer further told the Voltarians that his visit was 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.”
Nana Addo made the comments when he paid a courtesy call on the Anwomefia of Anloga, Togbui Sri III, today [Thursday] in the presence of 40 of his sub-chiefs from the Anlo State, on Thursday.
Welcoming Nana Akufo-Addo, Togui Sri III admonished the NPP flagbearer and the party in the region to conduct their campaign strictly based on issues and concerns of Ghanaians.
He also told Nana Akufo-Addo that he is free to campaign in the region at any time of his choosing.
Commencing a 4-day tour of the region, Nana Akufo-Addo acknowledged 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.
Hand of friendship
The NPP flagbearer told the chiefs he is extending a “genuine, sincere and trustworthy” hand of friendship and co-operation to the people of the Volta Region.”
“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.”
“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.
“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.
Perceived hostility between NPP and Volta Region
The NPP flagbearer added 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.”
We don’t have tribal agenda
Nana Akufo-Addo said it is a propaganda that has been done because it serves political interests of some parties.
“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 maintained.
“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.
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By: Awudu Mahama/election.citifmonline.com/Ghana