Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has mounted the strongest canvassing of votes yet for New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ahead of the December 7, 2016 elections.
He urged Ghanaians to give Nana Akufo-Addo the opportunity to let Ghana work again.
“We have done this before and we promise to do it again,” he said, “when Ghana gives Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP the chance in December this year.”
Former President Kufuor made this call at the 2016 manifesto launch of the largest opposition party.
He chaired “this momentous occasion” of the launch of the party’s 2016 manifesto at the Ghana International Trade Fair Center.
The former president expressed worry over the increasing taxes on foreign and local businesses, alike.
He suggested that an enabling environment should rather be created for foreign businesses to partner local ones for increasing job creation in the country.
He said the current system of running the country is rather stifling growth.
“Nowhere has poverty been alleviated by impoverishing the people,” Mr Kufuor stressed.
“We can’t only fight poverty by creating wealth. We should not therefore as a people die away from wealth creation.”
‘Pragmatism’ and ‘DNA’
Former President Kufuor remains the only leader of the NPP to have won elections in Ghana – doing it in 2000 and 2004.
He said anytime the NPP and, by extension, its tradition has been in power, substantial growth has been witnessed in Ghana through partnership between government and the private sector.
“As a party, we have shown our biding appreciation and commitment to this pragmatism anytime we have had the opportunity to be in power through [Kofi Abrefa] Busia’s short stint in the 2nd Republic and through what we were able to showcase in the NPP government of our nation in the recent past.”
He backed his claims by saying that gross domestic product (GDP) grew from $400 in 2001 to a per capita income of $1,300 by 2007.
“All within a very short period of seven years and more than 10 years ahead of what our opponents had ever thought possible.
“This feat was possible because it is in our party’s DNA. It is in the genes of our party.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana
