Top Ten Reasons Why Akuffo Addo Should be President

After the NPP Congress which resulted in the selection of Nana Akufo Addo as the party’s next leader and presidential candidate in the upcoming general election, the focus now shifts to the election year of 2008. Although the election features multiple candidates for president, the most realistic indication is that the leaders of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) would be the two main rivals. Of the two, NPP’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has distinguished himself as the most capable of leading our dear country, and here are the reasons why:

Ten – Vision. Nana Addo’s campaign theme is “taking Ghana to the next level.” On the face of it, it sounds rhetorical, but behind that theme is a clear resolve to move all sectors of Ghana beyond its current levels of development along the path to second world status. Everywhere he has been, Nana Addo has been consistent in this visionary message. In a speech in Tamale, Nana Addo stated that throughout the world, no country that is completely controlled by black people has been able to lift itself from poverty to a developed world status, and Ghana will be that country. He has further stated that development in Ghana must be such that it “pilots the transformation of West Africa and the entire continent into a global giant.” There are those who dwell too disproportionately on the past; Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo Addo looks into the future and sees things many people do not see.

Nine – Character. Although some have rather unfairly categorized him as conceited, that categorization stems from a woeful lack of knowledge of Nana Akufo Addo. Observe him in a discussion, and you find that he listens more than he speaks. Hear him speak and the deep conviction behind every word comes through. Examine his convictions and you find that Ghanaian interests reign consistently supreme over his own. Analyze his own interests and it becomes obvious that selflessness is the best characterization. In a nutshell, Nana Akufo Addo is a man of little hidden agendas; what you see is what you get.

Eight – Experience. The current Kufuor administration has had a great overall record. Yet critics continue to raise questions about the economy and how the man on the street has not seen any changes. As we leave that debate for a later date, however, there is one area that even the critics cannot disagree on Ghana’s exemplary performance and that if foreign affairs. Privately, Nana Akufo Addo, as Foreign Minister has traveled the globe to lay the groundwork for all our foreign policy victories. On the one hand, it takes an individual with personal skills and acumen to foster all these agreements, but on the other hand, that individual gets rewarded with a bountiful accumulation of working knowledge that would enable him to hit the ground running come January 2009.

Seven – Eloquence. One of the most important assets any successful leader can have is communication skills. Here, Nana Akufo Addo’s level of diction combined as well as his vocabulary is clearly superior to those of his competitors. That he is fluent in some seven languages including the major Ghanaian ones and French is also indicative of what efforts he is willing to invest towards an ability he sees as vital in understanding and effectively communicating with people.

Six – International Leverage. A recent exercise among some African intellectuals in Houston, Texas revealed a startling discovery. In a name/word association game, Kwame Nkrumah was associated more with ‘Icon.’ Kofi Annan was associated with ‘principled leadership.’ Jerry John Rawlings was associated with ‘popular.’ John Agyekum Kufuor was associated with ‘superstar.’ And Akufo Addo was associated with ‘effective.’ The reason is not farfetched; to carry the title of ‘top diplomat’ of a country, and for that country to enjoy regional and global prominence, one has to be effective. And those effective interactions with other world leaders easily translate into leverages that only established working relationships can offer.

Five – Political Maturity. During the process leading up to the climatic NPP National Congress at Legon last month, several accusations were leveled against president Kufuor for supporting Alan Kyeremateng, a fierce competitor of Nana Akufo Addo. In fact so persistent were the accusations that it was hard not to suspect a level of truth in them if you were Nana (as he is mostly referred to). Yet not once did candidate Akufo Addo stray from his faithfulness in the president. At every opportunity, he lauded the president’s achievements. And finally after he won the nomination, he made party unity priority number one to ensure that “those who supported other candidates have nothing to fear.” Of course, having a former president for a father to learn from did not hurt one bit. It is not farfetched to expect that he would bring the same uniting agenda to The Castle when he is president.

Four – Party Tradition. As great and as important as Nana Akufo Addo’s personal attributes are, those of the political party that molded him are equally vital. The New Patriotic Party’s motto of “Development in Freedom” is as much a hallmark as it is a barometer of accomplishment. It is a hallmark in the sense that it shapes everything its leaders do. Absent are the intimidations, the stagnation that the nation has suffered at times, and the name calling of opponents. Rather, the results to show are self evident. Ghanaians have enjoyed unprecedented levels of freedom. The radio and television stations are abuzz with varied opinions, and the print media has not been left out of the fray. And developments? Roads are healthier, investment levels are at an all time high, entrepreneurial spirits are back again, and the list goes on and on.

Three – A Belief in Ghana. Nana Akufo Addo has aid that he intends to take Ghana to the next level of development, but how does he plan to do that? Traveling around the world has exposed him to the great Ghanaian might. As he comes across Ghanaians who have attained global acclaim in their respective disciplines, Nana is completely convinced that, given the same opportunities, Ghanaians both at home and abroad can become the main, almost exclusive agents for developmental change in Ghana. Based on this conviction, he and his team have composed a comprehensive strategy for Ghana in all disciplines. That strategy will be unveiled in due course. You can be around him for ages, and not once would you hear him say how something would not work in Ghana. If it has worked anywhere, he believes, it can work in Ghana. All it takes is to figure out how.

Two – The Alternative. Fact: the very first physical altercation in Parliament involved members of the other party. Fact: the very first known global incident of a president physically attacking his vice president involved members of the other party.

Fact: when a taxi driver accidentally ran into an NDC president’s motorcade, he was killed on the spot, but when a driver accidentally ran into an NPP president’s motorcade, his own security detail helped to take the offending driver to the hospital. Fact: runaway inflation under the NDC government, devaluing cedi before the NPP administration, and outrageous interest rates have that stifled business development under the NDC administration have all been brought under control under the NPP government.

Fact: pre NPP administration per capita GDP was less than $1,200, and that figure has grown to $2,700. In the end, NDC represents stagnation, deterioration, and intimidation whilst the NPP represents growth, opportunity for all, and freedom.

Reason number One – Attah Who? Is it Rawlings or is it Mills? Very few people believe a vote for the NDC candidate is not a vote to return former president Rawlings to The Castle, and they have very good reasons to back up that belief. The NDC candidate has yet to make a statement to dissuade this argument. Those who dared to make that delineation or spoke against the former dictator-turned president now find themselves in a newly formed political party.

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