The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says Ghana cannot afford four more years of President Mahama’s governance.

He has therefore charged Ghanaians, as well as members of the NPP, to work hard and effect the change they desire in this year’s elections.

According to him, ever since the ruling National Democratic Congress government assumed the helm of affairs some seven years ago, every sector of the Ghanaian economy is in decline, evident in worsening living standards of the Ghanaian, widespread and rampant corruption and rising levels of unemployment.

These developments, the NPP flagbearer said, require a change in government in 2016, stressing that “four more years under President Mahama would be a bad thing for Ghana, and will only spell doom for Ghanaians.”

Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing residents of Ofoase/Ayirebi on Saturday, July 2, 2016, at the commencement of day-4 of his tour of the Eastern region.

The NPP presidential candidate, wondering why President Mahama was desperate for a 2nd term in office, asked the gathering if the President wanted to impose further hardship and suffering on the people, hence his desire for another four years in office.

“Is he coming to continue to bring poverty to Ghanaians? Is he coming to increase the unemployment rate? Today, businesses are collapsing and business owners are suffering. Is this what he wants to come and continue?” Nana Akufo-Addo asked.

In the presence of the NPP’s parliamentary candidate for Ofoase/Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Nana Akufo-Addo urged residents, and Ghanaians, to use their “thumbs to change Mahama, and, thereby, change Ghana so we can bring jobs to Ghanaians.”

Oil palm processing factory With the mainstay of the people of Ofoase/Ayirebi being agriculture, the NPP flagbearer indicated that the times of over-reliance on cocoa are over, assuring that his government is going to pay particular attention to the diversification of the country’s agriculture.

Improving agricultural productivity, he noted, will be spurred on by the production and marketing of additional cash crops such as cotton, coffee, oil palm, cashew and maize, which will boost export earnings for the country.

Citing the example of Malaysia, which earned $16.1 billion in 2015 from the exports of palm oil and palm-based products, Nana Akufo-Addo indicated that his government, God-willing from January 2017, will help establish an oil palm processing factory in the district, to help create jobs for the teeming masses of unemployed youth in the constituency, as well as earn foreign exchange revenues for the country.

He further added that it is only though rapid industrial expansion and an increase of agricultural productivity that Ghana can generate the hundreds of thousands of jobs that the young people of Ghana need.

No skirt and blouse voting With the NPP aiming at securing a decisive majority in the popular vote, as well as securing the majority of parliamentary seats, Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to residents not to entertain any thoughts of voting “skirt and blouse”, either in the presidential or parliamentary election.

The 8,501 margin of victory secured over President Mahama in 2012, he urged, must be increased, and therefore every vote for the NPP, in both elections, was of the utmost priority.

He urged all candidates in the 2015 parliamentary primary to rally behind the party’s candidate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, recounting his own experience in 1998 when he fully supported then candidate John Agyekum Kufuor to enable the NPP win the 2000 elections.

“A true NPP member always accepts the decision of the party’s Electoral College. When it’s your turn, the party will reward you. That is why I am also here today as flagbearer of the NPP. So those trumpeting ‘skirt and blouse’ should stop, and rather, help Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and push him to parliament,” he said.

“This is a gentleman who is well-known in every part of Ghana. As an advocate in Parliament, the concerns of Ofoase Ayirebi will be put before parliament. The NPP needs such men in government.”