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Press Release
NPP
November 30, 2015
REMARKS BY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY, AT THE ANNUAL
FUNDRAISING DINNER/DANCE, HELD AT THE BOLEYN BANQUETING
SUITE ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER, 28, 2015.
On a Saturday evening in London, a very cold Saturday
evening, I am impressed that so many of you have made it
here to this function for us to fellowship, have fun and
raise some money to help our party campaign in next year’s
elections. It must mean that you all agree with the wise
saying in Ewe I was introduced to some years ago, which
translates literally in English: that which is important,
you cook it in an important pot!
I hesitate to say this, but there is no escaping it;
elections are expensive undertakings. And in our part of the
world, they are very expensive. You, who live here and have
gone through a general election not too long ago, saw it. In
our country and in our current circumstances, unfortunately,
we have to worry also about things that would not be
normally considered as part of campaign expenditure:
protecting the ballot, making sure those who want to vote
for us are able to do so, making sure ghosts do not come
from the cemetery to vote, making sure the counting is real
and the documentation reflects what is in the ballot box. We
have to make sure there are no TWENTY SEVEN ZEROS ever again
on any Pink Sheet.
When you give your hard earned money to a cause, you have a
right to be assured it will be used for that cause. You have
a right to expect that the money is not diverted for any
extraneous things. You have a right to demand that the money
is used to achieve the expected results.
My dear friends, you can tick all these boxes. The
accountability the NPP is promising in government starts
from the party and from the campaign. I shall lead the team
and we shall campaign vigorously around the country. We
shall be contesting every polling station, every
constituency and every part of Ghana. Where we have been
strong traditionally, we shall work to increase our votes
and where we have been weak, we shall put in extra effort to
improve on our performance. We have to win the 2016
election. There can be no question about it. We win, not for
ourselves, not for our party, but for the people of Ghana
who are undergoing unnecessary hardships and difficulties.
I know many of you are concerned about the internal
wrangling in our party. We are doing our best to bring
sanity and peace. You can also help; don’t inflame the
situation from afar, tell your friends and relations to
accept that all of us in the NPP are on the same side and we
should spend our energies against the disastrous Mahama NDC
administration. Tell them our task is easier if we are
together, tell them our opponents are the NDC.
I want to urge you not to be dispirited about what you hear
about the internal wrangling. Much of it is exaggerated and
we now have good reason to believe, a lot of it is being
instigated from outside the party. If we make a determined
effort to stick together, we will come out strong. And I ask
you to pray for our party, and support the work of its
organs, the National Disciplinary Committee, the Council of
Elders, the National Executive Committee, the National
Council and the Regional and Constituency Executive organs.
They are manned by very responsible people and I have no
doubt that they do their best for all of us.
We should not forget one thing. We are the heirs of the
noblest political tradition in Ghanaian politics, and the
most durable. Our tradition has survived the deaths,
detentions and exiles of the First Republic. It has survived
the various military takeovers of our history. Out of it
all, it has emerged as the most formidable political party
in our country with the clearest message of freedom,
progress and prosperity. And in the 8 year government of
John Agyekum Kufuor, it has given our country the best
government in the Fourth Republic, if not in the entire
history of Ghana. We are not about to throw away this proud
heritage, and no machinations are going to weaken us.
The election is there for us to win; the NDC government has
nothing to campaign on; the President can go on shouting
that they have not borrowed too much, it will not change the
fact that Ghana is drowning in debt; I notice they no longer
talk about corruption….. I suspect they know they will choke
on the word; they will resort to their known lies, divisive
politics and personal attacks. I think Ghanaians have seen
through such things now.
But we must take our message to every village, every town,
to our supporters, to those who are indifferent and to those
who do not support us. I have never been afraid of hard work
and I am itching to go. I shall announce the campaign team
very soon by the 2015 Annual Delegates’ Conference scheduled
for Sunyani on 19th December. The party shall meet there to
set the agenda and framework for the 2016 campaign, to show
the world that the NPP is, indeed, all there, ready to take
on the task of winning next year’s election and forming an
honest government that will provide relief, progress and
prosperity for the great, longsuffering people of Ghana.
This campaign is for all NPP members, NPP sympathizers and
all those who want change in our nation. I know that often
it is the unsung, unmentioned, unrecognized people who do
the real work. Those of you who can come home, please do but
more importantly, let your money do the work for you and I
promise I will not let you down.
Thank you for coming, thanks to the organizers and thank you
all for a most pleasant evening. My wife, Rebecca, and I
have enjoyed it very much. Thank you and Merry Christmas in
advance.
God bless Ghana.
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