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Nana Addo announces campaign plans and extols the
two-term governance of the NPP
Accra, March 13, Ghanadot/GNA – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Flag bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) on
Thursday charged his campaign team to educate the electorate
on the impressive record of the party’s two-term in office
as a means of winning more votes in the forthcoming
elections.
The record achievements, he said, should be compared to the
11-year record of the PNDC and eight-year of National
Democratic Congress (NDC) achievements.
The NPP Flag bearer stated at a maiden press conference in
Accra attended by large contingent of journalist, 15 out of
the 16 losing NPP Presidential Candidates, Members of
Parliament, Ministers of State and cross section of NPP
supporters.
Nana Akufo-Addo used the press conference to announce NPP
Elections 2008 Campaign Team, Campaign Advisory Board,
mandate of the Campaign team, analysis of the record of the
NPP as against the NDC, priorities of the NPP’s Continuity
campaign, and pledged to be committed to the NPP tradition.
He said the inescapable conclusion from the comparison would
prove that the NPP’s eight-year term had been productive for
the development of Ghana than the close to 20-year rule of
the PNDC/NDC.
He said when the party took over the governance of the
country in January 2001 Ghana was bankrupt with a
demoralized population and a body politic scared by an
authoritarian culture.
“Since then we have compiled a record of solid achievements
which have laid a strong foundation for modernization of
society and the transformation of the national economy.”
“Never in the history of Ghana, has freedom so flourished as
under the NPP administration.”
The NPP Flag bearer said the government undertook intensive
initiatives to develop the social and physical
infrastructure – rapid expansion and rehabilitation of
school buildings, the implementation of the school feeding
programme, the capitation grant, introduction of the
National Health Insurance Scheme.
Other achievements include the improvement in the provision
of health care facilities, construction of urban and rural
road networks to link various towns and villages, the
disbursement of the poverty alleviation fund to the district
assemblies for development projects at the local level.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the eight year administration of the
NPP was credited with stabilisation of the economy with
minimal inflation, lowered interest rates, quadrupling the
size of the Ghanaian economy from a Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of 3.9 billion dollars to about 15 billion dollars.
He said average lending rates have fallen from 47 percent in
2000 to 24 percent in 2007, which have influenced credit to
the private sector upwards from less than 400 million
dollars in 2000 to nearly four billion in 2007 – 1000
percent increment.
Ghana’s exports have risen from 1.9 billion dollars in 200
to 4.2 billion dollars in 2007; NDC invested 320 million
dollars within seven years in the manufacturing sector
whiles the NPP used six years to invest 2.3 billion dollars
and the increment in the mobile telephone clientele base
from a total of 90,000 in 2000 to 7.6 million in 2007.
On the minimum wage, Nana Akufo-Addo said in 1993, Ghana’s
daily minimum wage was equivalent to 96 United States cents,
by 2000, the last year of the NDC regime, the real value of
the minimum wage of the Ghanaian had reduced to 60 US cents.
“Today, the minimum daily minimum wage is at 2.34 US
dollars, this is one of the many indications that under the
PNDC/NDC the money in the pocket of the Ghanaian
consistently lost its real value and the reverse has been
the case under the NPP.”
He said enrolment at the six public universities has more
than doubled from 40,673 in 2001 to 88,445 at the close of
the 2006/2007 academic year, a situation made possible by
the long overdue expansion of infrastructure of public
universities.
The private universities had only 1,667 students’ population
by 2000, which have now increased to 18,278 by the end of
2006/2007 academic year.
Enrolment at the ten polytechnics increased from total of
18,459 in 2000/2001 to 28,695 in 2006/2007.
The NPP flag bearer therefore charged the foot soldiers and
the campaign team to arm themselves with the positive
records of the party to market both the Presidential
Candidate and Parliamentary Candidates.
GNA
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