The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the spectre of Ghana being classified as a “High Risk of Debt Distress” country and coming under the International Monetary Fund, should be enough motivation for all Ghanaians to rid the nation of the John Mahama government in 2016.
After receiving a tumultuous welcome by the people of Wa, he addressed party faithful at a meeting of regional and constituency executives, as well as all the newly elected parliamentary candidates and their competitors, and noted that it is incumbent on Ghanaians to rise up in 2016 and help the NPP rebuild a country, which has seen every aspect of her national economy in crisis.
“We are talking about the situation where our country is down. Young people cannot get work to do, farmers do not have the inputs for their work, industries are closing all over the country, and our currency is now a joke.
Every aspect of our national economy is in crisis,” Akufo-Addo argued.
Whilst extending greetings to the gathering from his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is on pilgrimage to Mecca, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that “yesterday, officially, we became HIPC again.
The Bank of Ghana published statistics to show that the 70% benchmark of debt-to GDP ratio, which suggests whether you are HIPC or not, has been reached. We will reach 75% by the end of the year. Every aspect of our national economy is in crisis.”
An NPP government under his leadership, he said, is Ghana’s surest bet of, once again, returning the country onto the path of progress and prosperity, a path which President John Agyekum Kufuor put Ghana onto before the NPP exited office in January 2009.
The “Rise and Build” theme of his nationwide tour, Nana Akufo-Addo said, is therefore apt for the times Ghana finds herself in under the misrule of President John Dramani Mahama.
He recounted the Holy Bible’s account of when the Jews were in captivity, and Jerusalem had fallen into distress, and how the Almighty God raised a prophet to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
“The Almighty God spoke to the prophet Nehemiah and entrusted him with the task of rallying the Jews to rise up and build Jerusalem again. That is what we, in the NPP, must be doing, to rise up and build up Ghana again,” he charged.
Nana Akufo-Addo also reminded the gathering of the Holy Qu’ran’s account of the time when the Kabah was destroyed, and how it was rebuilt.
Under the leadership of Muhammad, who had not even received his Prophetic calling but had already earned a reputation as a faithful and honest broker, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the clan leaders rose together to rebuild the Kabah.
“So that is our task, that we are going to rise up and, together, rebuild our country, and to do so, I am making an appeal to the people of the region, Sissalas, Dagartis, Walas, Lobis, all the people of the Upper West.
I want you to trust me, have confidence in me. I am determined to work for all the people of Ghana without exception, and that I will provide this country with honest leadership. I am not saying I will not make mistakes.
I don’t think there is any human being or leader who never makes mistakes. But I promise you one thing, everything I do will be honest in the interest of the people of Ghana, and not because of my pocket,” he told the people of the Upper West Region.
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(Selorm) | 
(Nana Kwesi)