Achieving 80 per cent margin of victory in Ashanti . . . Bring everyone on board — Akufo-Addo
For the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to achieve an 80 per cent margin of victory in the Ashanti Region during the 2016 polls, it requires cooperation among members of the party, the NPP flag-bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has underscored.
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He explained that unity of purpose and oneness would have to prevail in the NPP, and tasked parliamentary candidates to take the lead in bringing everyone on board.
He urged members and supporters of the party from the Ashanti Region to repeat the 80 per cent margin of victory chalked up by the party in the second round of the 2000 presidential election in the forthcoming 2016 polls.
He declared: “The 80 per cent margin of victory can be realised if the leadership and entire membership of the party in the Ashanti Region work hard together.”
Nana Akufo-Addo made these remarks on the first day of his “Rise and Build “tour” of the Ashanti Region on Thursday, October 8, 2015, at a meeting of regional and constituency executives, as well as parliamentary candidates and their competitors from 17 constituencies; namely Asante Akyem South, Asante Akyem North, Asante Akyem Central, Bosome Freho, Drobonso, Kumawu, Effiduasi Asokore, Juaben, Ejisu, Ejura Sekyedumasi, Mampong, Nsuta Kwamang Beposo, Afigya Sekyere East, Kwabre East, Afigya Kwabre North, Afigya Kwabre South and New Edubiase.
2000 Election
“In the 2000 election, then candidate Kufuor achieved 72 per cent in the first round. In the second round, he achieved 79.5 per cent, which rounds off to 80 per cent. This meant victory for him and for the NPP. Let us work for 80 per cent of the popular votes in Ashanti and I am the next President of Ghana,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
He specifically tasked the newly elected parliamentary candidates from the Nsuta-Kwamang-Beposo, Afigya Sekyere East, Kwabre East, Bosome Freho, Mampong, Effiduase Asokore, Asante Akim North and Ejisu constituencies to reach out to their fellow aspirants and bring them on board in their respective campaigns to ensure total victory in 2016.
“We need every single vote in Ashanti to be able to get the 80 per cent target we have set,” he stressed.
Nana Akufo-Addo mentioned his competitors from the 2014 NPP presidential primary, including Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Mr Joe Ghartey, Mr Francis Addai Nimo, and Mr Alan Kyerematen, who were present at the meeting with him as a testament to the fact “we are all determined to work together to bring the NPP back into power in 2016.”
The second key to meet the party’s target in the 2016 election, according to the NPP flag bearer, would be for the NPP to reach out and improve the party’s relations with the settler communities in the Ashanti Region.
“We don’t have a tribal agenda in the NPP; we have a Ghanaian agenda in the NPP. The Ghana the NPP wants to build will accommodate every single Ghanaian. Those who are dreaming of one million votes in Ashanti are banking their hopes on the settler communities. That is where we (in the NPP) would have to plug the holes and ensure that their one-million-vote agenda becomes nothing but a dream and a mirage,” Akufo-Addo added.
He stated that the NPP’s message to the Ghanaian electorate would have to be a message of hope, prosperity and progress.
This message, Akufo-Addo said, would have to be sent to every household.
“There should not be the case where any electorate would say he or she did not hear the NPP’s message. That is the task ahead of you,” he added.
He continued, “I am determined that we mount a strong grass-roots campaign. Whatever help I can offer to the Ashanti Region, I will do.”
New economy for Ghana
An NPP victory, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, will mean that the suffering and economic hardships being faced by Ghanaians will be resolved.
“We are going to do a job for Ghana, which will mean the creation of a conducive environment for the private sector to flourish, and thereby build our nation. We can do it. We are going to build a new economy for this country, an economy that can solve the problems of our people. An economy that will bring prosperity, development and progress for Ghana,” he said.
He asked all NPP faithful to remain focussed on the task placed on them by Ghanaians, which is victory in the 2016 election, stressing that “victory in the 2016 election is well within our grasp.”
Nana Akufo-Addo was accompanied by a large number of NPP National executive officers.