Akufo-Addo steps up tempo in campaigning

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has stepped up the tempo of his electioneering for the December 7 polls, visiting a number of areas in six constituencies in the Ashanti Region in a day. Not even the sparse location of the various locations, the pitch of darkness and the long period of time allocated for each visit could hinder his determination to ensure that each venue was given equal and ample attention as far as visiting traditional chiefs, interacting with the people on the streets and mini-rallies were concerned. Reporters in his campaign team and their colleagues from the Ashanti Region who followed the campaign which ended at 1.30 a.m. in the Effiduase Asokore Constituency could at some point not come out of their vehicles because they were tired, with a lot of them dosing off in their vehicles while the campaign was in session. The constituencies he visited were Amansie West, Bekwai, Bosome Freho, Asante Akyem North, Asante Akyem Central and Effiduase Asokore. In each of these constituencies, the parliamentary candidates met the campaign team at the boundaries of the constituency, stood side by side Nana Akufo-Addo in his open-top vehicle and responded to cheers before addressing the people at the different places. Although he passed through two other constituencies (Antwima Nwabeagya and Kwadaso), he only stood on top of his car and waved at the people, some of whom had blocked the road, insisting he addressed them. On the average, Nana Akufo-Addo visited four areas in each of the constituencies and introduced the party’s parliamentary candidates. He reiterated his commitment to implement the party’s flagship policy of free senor high school, revamp the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), fight corruption and transform the economy to create well-paying jobs and wealth for the people of Ghana. In all the places that he had the opportunity to address the people, Nana Akufo-Addo commended the people who turned up in their numbers at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium last Sunday when the party held a non-denominational church service dubbed ‘Jericho Must Fall.’ One striking thing was that the campaign team got to most of the places very late but the people came out in their numbers, with a large number of them wearing NPP paraphernalia. Introducing the party’s parliamentary candidates, Nana Akufo-Addo made it clear that he did know of any independent parliamentary candidate and that they should vote for him and only the candidates that the party’s Electoral College had elected. Red vuvuzelas, shaped in the form of a trumpet, which were blown to symbolically bring down the walls of Jericho at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium were everywhere. The vuvuzelas were a nuisance at times because those who blew them made the noise bury the sounds that were coming out of the public address systems. At Agogo, Nana Akufo-Addo in addition to his three-pronged message of free senior high school, revamping the NHIS and rebuilding the economy to create more jobs through industrialisation assured the people that the menace of the Fulani herdsmen would be dealt with in an effective manner to bring relief and comfort to the people. Most of the places visited were dotted with sites of galamsey operations and Nana Akufo-Addo used the occasion to debunk what he claimed as malicious propaganda by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that an NPP government would abolish galamsey operations. He reminded the people that as a government that would be seeking ways of offering employment to its teeming youth who were idling about, they would be the last to abolish galamsey. He explained that just as former President J A Kufuor initiated programmes to modernise the operations of the galamsey operations for efficiency and also to save the environment, the next NPP government would follow the footsteps of their predecessor and ensure that they gained greater benefit from their work while the environment was also not destroyed. Nana Akufo-Addo said the University of Mines and Technology would be tasked to lead the way in this direction by coming out with techniques, tools and machines that would be suitable for galamsey operations. Story: Donald Ato Dapatem