I�ll Govern Fairly...Akufo-Addo Pledges

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has held its national thanksgiving service with a pledge from the party�s 2016 flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, to do his best to bring every member of the party together as a formidable team for victory 2016. �Akufo-Addo�s leadership will do what is right in the sight of Ghanaians and put the interest of the nation first,� he assured the gathering of Christians and NPP faithful at the national thanksgiving service at the Wesley Cathedral in Accra last Sunday. Thanksgiving service The national thanksgiving service was in commemoration of the successful election of party officers and the flag bearer for the 2016 elections and was held on the theme: �Thus far the Lord has brought us.� The occasion was used to pray for and anoint Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as well as their spouses for God�s grace and strength for the battle ahead of them. It brought together the council of elders and party leadership at the constituency and national levels. In a remark, Nana Akufo-Addo promised to govern fairly should he win power in 2016. In a sermon, the Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa of the Anglican Church, Most Rev. Prof. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, advised members of the NPP to desist from making public what was supposed to be internal party matters. He urged party members and sympathisers to channel their grievances and misunderstandings to the council of elders of the party and ensure that they resorted to all the laid-down procedures in resolving grievances within the party. In his view, the lack of respect for the laid-down procedures in resolving complaints in the party could undermine party unity and cohesion and lead to divisions and misunderstandings. �If you continue to wash your dirty linen in public, it will be a recipe for divisions and misunderstandings and will give your opponents the arsenal to fight you anytime,� he cautioned. Have a big heart Most Rev. Prof. Sarfo, who is also the Archbishop of the Kumasi Anglican Church, admonished Nana Akufo-Addo to develop a big heart like that of an archbishop or a bishop to carry along those who voted for him and those who did not. He commended the 2014 flag-bearer contestants and charged members of the party to put the interest of the party and the nation first in everything they did. He also commended the entire leadership of the party for putting together the service, adding that, �This points to the fact that you depend on God.� He particularly expressed delight at the manner in which Nana Akufo-Addo put the interest of Ghana above his personal interest following the Supreme Court verdict last year by accepting the decision of the court, saying that he (Nana Addo) deserved commendation and appreciation. Officials present at the service Some of the party officials and members of the council of elders who graced the occasion were former President John Agyekum Kufuor, party Chairman Paul Afoko, Chairman of the Council of Elders, C.K. Tedem, all the 2016 flag-bearer contestants and Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. Others were Prof. Mike Oquaye, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, Mr Stanley Agyir Blankson, as well as some national and regional executive members of the party.