“The New Patriotic Party has the blueprint for the development of Ghana, the foundation for that development has been laid in Akufo-Addo’s first term as President. In the next term, we will be constructing the house of more prosperity, of more progress and of more development for our nation.”

These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Sunday, 29th November 2020, when he addressed residents of Tarkwa and party faithful as part of his day’s campaign tour of the Western Region.

According to President Akufo-Addo, his first term of office has been used to create a solid foundation for the economy, as well as the implementation of policies and programmes which have helped to put the country on a strong footing.

He explained that policies such as the Free Senior High School policy which has increased enrolment at the senior high school level, the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs which has transformed Ghana into a net exporter of food, and the 1-District-1-Factory initiative which is increasing the capacity of the nation to be self-reliant, have had positive impacts on the lives and livelihoods of Ghanaians.

With a week to the holding of the presidential and parliamentary elections, the President stated that it will be the perfect opportunity “to show Mahama if we have short memories or not.

He, therefore, appealed to residents of Tarkwa-Nsuaem “not to vote any skirt and blouse”, adding that “no independent candidate can help Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency. I will not work with any independent candidate. I will work with NPP MPs in my next government.”

President Akufo-Addo continued, “I am appealing to you, I am coming to work with Mireku Duker in Parliament. He has not let you down since you sent him to Parliament. He is working hard there, and is one of the highly respected MPs in the House.”

Having won the 2016 election by a margin of nearly one million votes, the President urged the electorate to repose in him their confidence, and give him an even larger margin of victory on 7th December.

“This time round we want it Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom for me and Mireku Duker. That will give me the strength and energy to work for us all. So, don’t stay at home and presume Nana has already won. Nana will not win without your vote. Mireku Duker would not win without your vote,” the President appealed.

Whilst in Tarkwa, the President commissioned a 5-Storey Administration Block for the Tarkwa Campus of the University of Mines and Technology. He also commissioned the GNPC School of Petroleum Studies also in Tarkwa.

The school project, with an ultra-modern science laboratory, cost GH¢12 million and forms part of GNPC’s efforts at building local capacity for Ghana’s petroleum sector locally, to maximise value retention.

According to Dr. K. K. Sarpong, GNPC’s Chief Executive, the Corporation was inspired by the President’s self-dependency policy of Ghana Beyond Aid and has taken steps towards making that a reality in the petroleum sector.

“We recognise that key to achieving that agenda is to ensure that our institutions of higher learning are producing the human resource requirement that fit not just the sector, but industry in general. That could only happen through research and collaboration between industry and academia,” he stated.

Additional efforts, he stressed, have been put in place “to accelerate efforts to bridge the gap in the human resource requirements, to build capacity of Ghanaians along the petroleum industry value chain.”

In his response, the Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. R. K. Amankwaah, expressed his gratitude to GNPC for the project and the President for the honour in commissioning it. He further assured of the University’s commitment to regularly maintain the Facility. The president had earlier commissioned a new administration block at the University.

The GNPC School of Petroleum Studies will have laboratories, lecture halls, office for lecturers and other administrative staff. The two schools will work closely with the GNPC Professorial Chairs and will serve as a regional hub for training students in the oil and gas sector.