The Danquah Institute (DI) a political think tank affiliated to the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday said the party is set to launch its Election 2012 manifesto on Saturday, August 25.

The manifesto, which focuses on how to transform Ghana under “an action-oriented, transformational leader” seeks to also expose the electorate to the failures of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and called for change for hope and confidence to be restored in order to move Ghana forward.

In a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra by Mr. Asare Otchere-Darko, DI Executive Director, said the 2012 NPP Manifesto begins with a bold statement: “Ghana is ready for transformation. But, before that can take place we need to, first, change the current drivers of the vehicle... Transformation is beckoning, change is due”.

It said the NPP believed that there were talented Ghanaians everywhere who must be encouraged to give active support to Ghana’s transformation.

“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, NPP Flag bearer for Election 2012 is determined to identify and develop new talents and engage our best minds to drive the nation forward.

“The agenda of transforming Ghana requires a Presidency that will act as the force in driving the public sector to work for the people and encouraging the private sector to go for gold; a Presidency that will provide the vision, direction and inspiration for the people to excel.

“What the NPP is offering is a leadership that will deliver. We will govern with decisive action plans and timetables, and allocate resources prudently,” the statement explained.

On national leadership, the NPP Manifesto said “Ghanaians had been denied of any clear leadership direction under this third NDC Government and the nation could not continue squandering opportunities under the NDC.”

The NPP accused the ruling NDC of reducing governance to greed, lies and propaganda gimmicks. The NPP saw the task ahead as two-fold: transformational leadership and competent management of national affairs.

“By tackling our leadership and management weaknesses, we will unleash the talents of the Ghanaian people and build a great nation with the people of Ghana and for the people of Ghana.

“Our leader and flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo, is competent, committed, experienced, honest and has a clear vision on how to make Ghana work for you. He is a can-do leader, dedicated to pushing Ghana to succeed,” the document asserted.

It said the NPP Election 2012 manifesto explained that “A transformed nation means a transformed economy, a transformed infrastructure, a transformed and much improved quality of life…this change,” the NPP stressed, “Requires a clear vision, a can-do leader and the roadmap to get there.”

The statement quoting Mr. Yofi Grant, Co-ordinator of the NPP Election 2012 Manifesto Committee, said the manifesto sought to offer the roadmap to implementing Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision of having an educated, confident, healthy workforce to drive the industrialisation of Ghana.

Mr. Grant noted that: “What you will see in the manifesto is the clear, action plan of a transformational leader who is committed to really changing things. Nana Akufo-Addo is only saying, ‘look guys, we cannot continue failing over 70 per cent of our kids with a failed education system.

“We cannot expect to make our nation modern and improve the lives of our people if we don’t add value to our economy, help our businesses grow and our young people to have good jobs with good pay. The good news is that, it is doable and we will do it. This is Nana Akufo- Addo’s message to Ghanaians.”

The NPP Manifesto Committee is chaired by Professor Yaw Twumasi, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Danquah Institute.**