Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has urged Ghanaians to give President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) four more years to do more for the country.
He reminded voters to vote massively and retain the governing NPP in the December 7 polls to sustain and improve on the gains made so far.
According to him, President Akufo-Addo has done so much in areas of education, health, economy, roads, agricultural production and many others and therefore deserves a second term to continue with his good works.
“We are voting in December and we have to consolidate our gains. We can’t afford to retrogress.
“If we vote Akufo-Addo and Bawumia and the NPP for the next four years, with all the good things they’ve started, which include development in our educational sector, agricultural sector, health, construction of roads; everything has improved and Ghana can only move forward.
“The economy is also on track as we can see many investors coming into the country. Anytime the NPP is in power, the economy becomes better,” former President Kufuor appealed to Ghanaians in a video message that has been widely circulated.
He added that, “when you talk of free SHS (Senior High School), potable drinking water, roads, housing, the NPP has done all these so if this is what we’ve started, then why don’t you allow the NPP to continue governing for four more years.”
Last election
The last time Mr Kufuor campaigned for NPP in 2016, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the presidential polls with NPP taking 169 majority seats in the 275-member Parliament.
The former President who turns 82 on December 8, 2020 is hoping that Ghanaians will again give him a befitting birthday party with NPP’s total victory at this year’s polls.
Nicknamed the “Gentle Giant”, Mr Kufuor was the first in the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition to win presidential election in the fourth republic with an enviable record.
He assumed power on January 7, 2001 and won a second term, exiting office on January 6, 2009.
Mr Kufuor is considered to be one of the greatest presidents Ghana has ever produced as he competently managed an ailing economy he inherited in 2001.
Kufuor presidency
The domestic policy in the first term of President Kufuor was marked by fiscal and monetary stringency on the economic front, aimed at stabilising a national economy that had stagnated and was in decline.
His social vision was focused on unleashing the entrepreneurial, creative and innovative potential of Ghanaians as a means of creating wealth and hence dealing with the social challenges facing the people.
This socio-economic vision was encapsulated in the Five Priority Areas Programme, viz., the pursuit of good governance, modernisation of agriculture for rural development, private sector participation, enhanced social services and vigorous infrastructure development.
He managed the economy from a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPIC) to low middle income economy.
President Kufuor’s foreign policy was underpinned by what he termed “economic diplomacy”.
It was within this context that in Africa in general and in West Africa in particular, a good neighbour policy has been pursued, which saw Ghana under Kufuor brokering peace in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau, among other African states.
