The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said he is unperturbed by the falsehood being churned out daily against his person by operatives and functionaries of the Mahama government.
According to Mr Akufo-Addo, “knowing full well they (NDC) have lost the December 7 election, they are now resorting to lies, propaganda, fabrications, and vicious attacks against my person”.
However, the three-time presidential candidate stressed: “I remain unshaken in the face of all these attacks. I have not stolen anyone’s money, neither have I killed anyone. I am not bothered by what they are saying about me, because they are all lies and acts of desperation. Do not be discouraged, we are firmly on course for victory.”
Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a rally at Nkawkaw, the venue for the NPP’s Eastern regional rally, on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, when he made these comments.
He revealed that the NDC propaganda machinery has been put in overdrive, with the aim of “setting tribe against tribe, and telling Ghanaians that the NPP hates Northerners, even though my running mate is from the North”.
“They will say the NPP will drive Muslims, Northerners and residents in Zongo communities away from Ghana. All these are not true. They are nothing but pure lies,” he maintained.
Mr Akufo-Addo, thus, urged Ghanaians not to pay heed to the politics of division and tribalism, which have become the NDC’s stock in trade, adding: “We are all one people in Ghana. Let us use our energies to push Ghana forward and stop the divisive talk and reactionary politics.”
He also appealed to the electorate to vote into office a competent government whose preoccupation will be to improve on the standards of living of the Ghanaian, explaining that President Mahama, over the last eight years, has amply demonstrated that he “cannot do the job, the reason why we are all suffering in Ghana”.
He added that the real reason for the president’s determination to stay in office is “because of the perquisites and benefits of office for himself, his family and close associates”.
For that reason, the NPP flag bearer indicated: “President Mahama will say and do any and everything to hang onto power.”
Mr Akufo-Addo wondered why, in the midst of President Mahama’s claims of having undertaken “unprecedented infrastructural development”, he continues to wage a campaign of character assassination and the distribution of freebies to Ghanaian voters, all in his bid for re-election.
“If truly, you claim to have undertaken unprecedented infrastructural development in the country, which is pleasing to Ghanaians, why is the president, together with his wife, going around distributing goodies to the electorate for votes? Why are they distributing monies, sewing machines and peddling all sorts of untruths in a bid to gain re-election?” he asked.
He continued, “There’s a popular adage in Twi, which says ‘a good thing sells itself’. If Ghanaians are pleased with his work, as he wants us to believe, why is he (Mahama) not resting easy? Why is he going around the country trying to buy everyone off?”
Nana Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians: “I’m not the type of politician who would come before you and say I would bring a one-time National Health Insurance Premium, and once in office, I turn my back on fulfilling that pledge. That’s not the type of job I want to do.
“I would not promise 200 community day schools in four years, only end up constructing nine, and with a few days to elections, rush to complete and commission others for electoral purposes. That is not the kind of work I am coming to do. I am coming to develop our country and return us onto the path of progress and prosperity.”