<<Print>>

Nana Akufo-Addo has said President John Mahama has made him (Akufo-Addo) his campaign message for the December 7 elections because the current government has failed to end dumsor (erratic power supply) and several other promises the governing party made ahead of the 2012 elections.

According to the New Patriotic Party flag bearer, Mr Mahama, while campaigning in the Northern Region recently, failed to touch on the Savannah Accelerate Development Authority (SADA) programme because the policy, which was meant to bridge the poverty gap between the north and south, has become a “monumental failure”.

Nana Akufo-Addo said because of these failures, Mr Mahama and the National Democratic Congress have no message for Ghanaians in this year’s elections and so the President has chosen to “make me his campaign” by lunging at him (Akufo-Addo) to cover up his failure.

Addressing supporters of the NDC in Bimbilla in the Northern Region on Tuesday August 23 as part of his campaign, Mr Mahama said: “What we need in Ghana is an understanding president. The era of dictatorship is gone: we are not looking for a dictator, somebody who cannot stand criticism in his own party. If you criticise him, he will sack you…that is not the kind of leader we are looking for. We are looking for a leader who can bring people together," he stressed in reference to the flag bearer of the main opposition party.

“...It is a very dangerous experiment. Ghana is not at the stage where we are experimenting leadership, and so you cannot come and beg that we should try you. We are not in the era of experiments and trials, we are in the era of what is sure. We have seen this government: one of the major successes of this government is peace and stability.

“We are looking for a leader who can unite Ghana and not a leader who will divide Ghana. If you cannot unite your own party, how do you unite a nation?" he questioned.

However, the three-time opposition flag bearer said the propaganda being waged against him by the NDC, led by President Mahama will not work.

“First they said I was a drug addict, it didn’t work. They said I was sick, it didn’t work. They said I was too old, it didn’t work. They said I was a hunchback, it didn’t work. They said I was a dwarf, it didn’t work. They said I was in a wheelchair, it didn’t work. They said I am a murderer, it didn’t work. They said I will die in June, it didn’t work. They said I was a dictator, it didn’t work. They said I was intolerant, it didn’t work. They said I was violent, it didn’t work. They said I had a secret agenda to destabilise the country, it didn’t work. Now, they say I have cancer, it will not work.”

He stressed further that “it appears the only way the President will get a third term is when I am sick or I am dead. That is the only ground on which he will get his third term.”

Nana Akufo-Addo said “issues of life and death and health are in the hands of the Almighty. I will leave matters in the hands of the Almighty, because, I believe and I continue to say the battle is the Lord’s.”