Wa, Oct. 31, GNA - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says he will be the last person to foment trouble for the country.

He said it would not make sense if he, as Foreign Minister who sought peace for other countries, would turn round to foment trouble in his own country where his wife and children, friends and parents lived. "I risked my life to bring democracy, justice and equality to my people, how can I turn back to destroy these?" he asked. Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing party delegates and supporters at Wa Secondary School to solicit their support in the December 22 delegates' conference to elect a presidential candidate for the NPP.

He said: "Some people are going round saying I am arrogant, I don't like people, I don't respect people, I am hot tempered and if given the mandate to lead the NPP I will cause the arrest of former President Jerry John Rawlings."

He said he did not know where these messages were coming from and that those who now see him as an arrogant person are those who used to call him a courageous man during the PNDC and NDC days.

Nana Akufo-Addo told his critics to stop smearing his name and said what he had been doing was to fight injustice in society. He urged the delegates to choose a candidate who could do the job for the party and for Ghanaians.

Nana Akufo-Addo said it was dangerous to play religious or tribal cards in the party and all must take lessons from Ivory Coast and Liberia.

"Our country needs peace and we should not allow ethnicity and religious affiliations into our political process.''

Nana Akufo-Addo said, "Let us maintain the unity of the party and the nation and choose a 'true blue NPP man' who knows the history of the party and is capable of unifying the party to lead the NPP". He said it was not true that because many aspirants were participating in the presidential race, it was likely to cause division in the party.

Nana Akufo-Addo said election 2008 polls was a difficult one and that the NPP needed care to transfer power without creating any problems in the party.

He appealed to the delegates to prevail on losers at the December 22 congress to support the winner, saying the maintenance of NPP tradition was rested on their shoulders and they should allow it to work.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP had transformed the economy tremendously but more work was needed to get the country to attain economic prosperity.

He said the NDC was aware that if it failed to win the 2008 polls it would disintegrate and therefore was doing everything possible to takeover power from the NPP.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the success of the NPP would depend largely on its message to the people, the quality of the leader and the organisation of the party.

He urged regional executives of the party to work hard to win more seats in the Upper West Region for the party to bring the NPP back to its roots.

On the party front, he said he was aware of the gap between the party and the government and promised to address it if given the mandate. 31 Oct 07