<<Print>>On a Saturday evening in London, a very cold Saturday evening, I am impressed that so many of you have made it here to this function for us to fellowship, have fun and raise some money to help our party campaign in next year’s elections.
It must mean that you all agree with the wise saying in Ewe I was introduced to some years ago, which translates literally in English: that which is important, you cook it in an important pot!
I hesitate to say this, but there is no escaping it; elections are expensive undertakings. And in our part of the world, they are very expensive. You, who live here and have gone through a general election not too long ago, saw it. In our country and in our current circumstances, unfortunately, we have to worry also about things that would not be normally considered as part of campaign expenditure: protecting the ballot, making sure those who want to vote for us are able to do so, making sure ghosts do not come from the cemetery to vote, making sure the counting is real and the documentation reflects what is in the ballot box. We have to make sure there are no TWENTY SEVEN ZEROS ever again on any Pink Sheet.
When you give your hard earned money to a cause, you have a right to be assured it will be used for that cause. You have a right to expect that the money is not diverted for any extraneous things. You have a right to demand that the money is used to achieve the expected results.
My dear friends, you can tick all these boxes. The accountability the NPP is promising in government starts from the party and from the campaign. I shall lead the team and we shall campaign vigorously around the country. We shall be contesting every polling station, every constituency and every part of Ghana. Where we have been strong traditionally, we shall work to increase our votes and where we have been weak, we shall put in extra effort to improve on our performance. We have to win the 2016 election. There can be no question about it. We win, not for ourselves, not for our party, but for the people of Ghana who are undergoing unnecessary hardships and difficulties.
I know many of you are concerned about the internal wrangling in our party. We are doing our best to bring sanity and peace. You can also help; don’t inflame the situation from afar, tell your friends and relations to accept that all of us in the NPP are on the same side and we should spend our energies against the disastrous Mahama NDC administration. Tell them our task is easier if we are together, tell them our opponents are the NDC.
I want to urge you not to be dispirited about what you hear about the internal wrangling. Much of it is exaggerated and we now have good reason to believe, a lot of it is being instigated from outside the party. If we make a determined effort to stick together, we will come out strong. And I ask you to pray for our party, and support the work of its organs, the National Disciplinary Committee, the Council of Elders, the National Executive Committee, the National Council and the Regional and Constituency Executive organs. They are manned by very responsible people and I have no doubt that they do their best for all of us.
We should not forget one thing. We are the heirs of the noblest political tradition in Ghanaian politics, and the most durable. Our tradition has survived the deaths, detentions and exiles of the First Republic. It has survived the various military takeovers of our history. Out of it all, it has emerged as the most formidable political party in our country with the clearest message of freedom, progress and prosperity. And in the 8 year government of John Agyekum Kufuor, it has given our country the best government in the Fourth Republic, if not in the entire history of Ghana. We are not about to throw away this proud heritage, and no machinations are going to weaken us.
The election is there for us to win; the NDC government has nothing to campaign on; the President can go on shouting that they have not borrowed too much, it will not change the fact that Ghana is drowning in debt; I notice they no longer talk about corruption….. I suspect they know they will choke on the word; they will resort to their known lies, divisive politics and personal attacks. I think Ghanaians have seen through such things now.
But we must take our message to every village, every town, to our supporters, to those who are indifferent and to those who do not support us. I have never been afraid of hard work and I am itching to go. I shall announce the campaign team very soon by the 2015 Annual Delegates’ Conference scheduled for Sunyani on 19th December. The party shall meet there to set the agenda and framework for the 2016 campaign, to show the world that the NPP is, indeed, all there, ready to take on the task of winning next year’s election and forming an honest government that will provide relief, progress and prosperity for the great, longsuffering people of Ghana. This campaign is for all NPP members, NPP sympathizers and all those who want change in our nation. I know that often it is the unsung, unmentioned, unrecognized people who do the real work. Those of you who can come home, please do but more importantly, let your money do the work for you and I promise I will not let you down.
Thank you for coming, thanks to the organizers and thank you all for a most pleasant evening. My wife, Rebecca, and I have enjoyed it very much. Thank you and Merry Christmas in advance.
God bless Ghana.