By Herbert Krapa

On August 7, 2010, the New Patriotic Party became the first party in Africa to allow its presidential candidate or leader to be chosen by a potential number of 115,000 people. Eventually 107,000 of them, representing nearly 80% of the votes cast, endorsed NanaAddoDankwaAkufo-Addo as the party’s 2012 Presidential Candidate. It was like a mini general election, with polling taking place in a very transparent manner in all 230 constituencies at the same time. It was an endorsement that demonstrated the strong united party that the leader has behind him in his second attempt at the presidency.

In his words, “The outcome of the presidential primary of August 7 was another monumental testament, that -- without hopefully being too presumptuous -- God has a special interest in the protection and promotion of Ghana's multi-party democracy and in the NPP's major role in that national project. The sincere efforts by everybody involved, from candidates to their supporters, to use the success of Saturday to foster unity within the NPP offer us ample evidence of the significant benefits that can be derived from a peaceful, free, fair and transparent election process.”

A NEW SOCIETY OF OPPORTUNITIES Nana Akufo-Addo has that can-do spirit that has missing in Ghana’s leadership in recent years. He has the strength, the courage, the confidence, the compassion, the passion, the experience, the visions and the people to make that transformation possible. He insists that Ghana can be transformed within ten years under the right leadership and with the proper programme. He promises to conduct the 2012 campaign “not with promises but with programmes to transform our economy, modernize our society, consolidate our democracy and make Ghana the centre of economic activity for our West African region.” Below, Nana Addo defines what his vision is for Ghana. “Besides confidence in the electoral system, the ultimate test for our democracy is winning the enduring war against Africa's old enemy -- mass poverty. I believe we can only win this war by building a New Society of Opportunities. It means intensifying radically our efforts in pursuing the transformation and modernisation of our national economy, so that it could create jobs and prosperity for the broad mass of our people on the basis of social justice, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the principles of democratic accountability, and individual liberty and enterprise. This is the new paradigm of human development to which our generation is summoned.

“This New Society of Opportunities is what can realise the dream of the founding fathers that all Ghanaians shall have a right and duty to engage in, contribute to and profit from the country's economic growth and wealth. We in the NPP believe that every individual is endowed with God-given talents. Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. Hence, we see it as the fundamental duty of government to create an environment that allows the individual to use that talent positively for the benefit of him- or herself, his or her family and society, at large. A critical element of that environment is the systematic encouragement by government of the culture and spirit of enterprise in all its citizens. “It is my most respectful submission that the philosophy and programmes of the NPP are premised on God's desire for humankind – happiness. Indeed, the true goal of human life is exactly what the Almighty wants for us all -- happiness, dignity, peace, enlightenment and reconciliation with our fellow human beings.

“In our view, Government has a responsibility to ensure that all its citizens have the relevant skills and opportunities to create their own individual wealth. A new society of opportunities, as we envisage, means establishing a system of governance that provides the very best of public services for every citizen, including an effective, humane public healthcare system, access to a secure and reliable justice system and unfettered access by all and sundry to a quality education in Ghana that rivals any in the world. It means also a governance system that helps unleash the energies of its citizens so that enterprise is appreciated and duly rewarded, not vilified and made the object of envy.

“Thus, our goal of building a property-owning democracy in a free, independent Ghana has never meant, does not mean, and will not mean, luxury for the elite at the expense of the majority. Rather we mean to extend the benefit of property ownership to each and every citizen to enhance their dignity and welfare. Our mission is, therefore, to create a New Society of Opportunities for all, for, without everybody on board, our democratic ship risks sinking under its own domestic weight.”

The administration of President JEA Mills has clearly failed the people of Ghana, half of whom voted for him in 2008. His administration has been characterized by broken promises, incompetence, weak leadership, lies, deceit, hypocrisy, corruption, lawlessness of footsoldiers of the ruling party, corruption, rising unemployment, and increasing hardships of the masses, with the World Bank projecting that Ghanaians have gotten poorer under the first two years of President Mills, with more people falling below the poverty of US$1.25.

Nana Addo, elected this time two years before the 2012 contest, has more time to mobilize his grassroots activists and promote his message across the country than he was able to do in 2008.

In 2008, with the background of defending the record of his party’s eight-year record as the incumbent government in the heat of a global food crisis and record hikes in crude oil prices, the NPP candidate had his work cut out against a ferocious propaganda of lies from an opposition party desperate for power.

As he said in a recent interview, “This time I am not the one who have to do the defending; we are on the attack, a constructive offensive, with a solid record of unparallel achievements behind us and a powerful programme for a brighter future, to win power from those who have it and don’t know what to do with it in service to the people.”

“Who has the leadership qualities necessary to move this extraordinary nation forward to the next level of its development? Who can lead us to take the next bold steps towards the prosperity and general well-being of every citizen of Ghana?”

The above are the questions, posed rhetorically by Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo, which Ghanaian voters, after their growing disenchantment with the Mills-Mahama administration, should find an answer to on Friday, December 7, 2012. In the minds of millions of Ghanaians, both young and old, male and female, north and south, that leader is Nana Addo – the man who believes in Ghana and has shown a sincere, passionate and prepared commitment to finally put Ghana on a clear course to a developed society of a free and prosperous people.”

“Ours,” Nana Addo says of the dream of the NPP, “is to build a new Ghana, where fairness, freedom and fraternity are supreme. We will, therefore, not relent in our established efforts to provide affordable, quality healthcare for all and to give free, quality education and skills for jobs to every Ghanaian child or youth, regardless of the circumstances of birth. We are the party that can fix it. We are the NPP.”

Nana Addo pledges to make Ghana a safe, peaceful, united and truly democratic country to live in, where the rule of law, human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability are respected.

“There is hope for Ghana. There is a brighter future ahead of us all. Victory is, indeed, promised to those who persevere. Ghana is destined to succeed. You can trust us to make Ghana succeed. We are the NPP”, Nana Addo stresses.

Evidence of Nana Akufo-Addo’sstrong, mature and cohesive leadership skills became vivid to many, especially young Ghanaians when he contested with 16 other party stalwarts for the presidential candidate slot of the New Patriotic Party last December. Never before in the history of contemporary competitive politics anywhere in the world had 17 people contested for a party’s leadership. Many pundits and newspapers, especially opposition voices, predicted that the NPP was heading for an acrimonious split. Yet, after winning that nomination, Nana Akufo-Addo set about on an elaborate, calculated, masterly, disciplined and principled voyage to unite the party and mobilise the rank and file of the party for this year’s general elections.

That process had its drawbacks as he had 11 months to campaign across the nooks and crannies of Ghana against a candidate who had been on the presidential ticket since 1996, Prof JEA Mills.

In the Dec 7, 2008 presidential race, Nana beat Prof Mills of the National Democratic Congress, who was contesting for the third time, with more than 102,000 votes. Nana got 49.13% of the total votes cast, placing him first but fell 74,000 votes short of the more than 50% needed. It was the best ever performance for a first time presidential candidate under the Fourth Republic. Nana had effectively less than six months to campaign

In the Dec 28 run-off, while he got more votes than on Dec 7, the combined ‘Yere Se Sa Mu’ (Change) votes overtook Nana but by less than 0.5% - the smallest margin of defeat ever in Africa’s political history. In spite of the collective opposition call for ‘Change’, the 2008 election showed a split in the two parties’/two candidates’ share of the swing/floating/undecided votes.

Though NPP came first in the presidential race on Dec 7, by losing its parliamentary majority to the NDC, the NDC campaign message in the run-off was simple: ‘We have won Parliament. Now give us the Presidency.’

Nana Akufo-Addo has a history of winning against the odds: 35 years ago he fought from opposition to defeat a military regime. In 1996, the Rawlings regime was determined to keep him out of the legislature. They used money and macho men but Akufo-Addo and his loyal footsoldiers were ready for them. Contesting a parliamentary seat for the first time, Nana fought against guns, intimidation and vote-rigging to win his seat by beating the incumbent MP, OwurakuAmofa, with 28,526 votes (47.50%) against 20,173 (33.60%).

In the next election in 2000, Akufo-Addo proved that he grows from election after election. He won by a huge majority of 62.50%.

In 2004, Nana increased his margin of victory further to win his seat with 70% of the votes cast. He has charged the NPP to not relent in its efforts to ensure that the 2012 elections are free and fair and to not succumb to electoral violence, intimidation and fraud.

Nana Akufo-Addo’s philosophy can be said to be encapsulated in his mantra: “I Believe in Ghana.”