Dr Kwaku Osafo, a development economist, has launched his bid to be elected as the presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP) for Election 2008 and said he was well-placed to deliver the country from its woes.

He told the media on Wednesday that his international and local exposure and wide range working experience that cut across engineering, economics and finances had given him the aptitude to deliver Ghanaians from their difficulties and bad governance.

Dr Osafo, 63, a product of the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, said Ghana needed an economic system whose key elements were a pragmatic approach to the questions of private ownership and government intervention.

He said there must be socially responsible use of the means of production, public or private, and an intense commitment to high productivity.

"Whoever wins the CPP presidential slot will definitely give the other candidates from the so called bigger parties a run for their money. Watch out for CPP in Election 2008."

Dr Osafo was born on November 24, 1943 and entered the Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, where he obtained Masters in Economics and PhD in Applied Economics, MBA in Finance from the University of Ghana, Legon.

He holds MSc in Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering, from the University of California Davis, BSc in Agricultural Engineering, Civil Option from the Israeli Institute of Haifa.

Dr Kwaku Osafo challenged all aspirants to publicly declare their assets. "I urge all presidential aspirants of all political parties to publicly declare their assets now and all selected presidential candidates to declare publicly within three months of being selected."

"Whoever wins the presidential elections should publicly declare his or her assets before taking office.

Dr Osafo is the second to publicly declare his intention to contest the CPP presidential slot after Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, a former Director General of the Ghana Health Service. Other aspirants are Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, a former Minister of Public Sector Reform, Mr Bright Akwetey, a lawyer, and Mr George Opersika Aggudey, CPP's presidential candidate in Election 2004.

Dr Osafo said under his presidency all ministers and senior officials appointed should publicly declare their assets within three months of taking office "to demonstrate our fight against corruption."

"For the first time in the history of this country, I am declaring the hardware of my assets and the means of their acquisition even as a party presidential aspirant to demonstrate in no uncertain terms that corruption will not be tolerated in my administration."

He said his administration would enter into agreements with international banks, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to divulge secret accounts of the president's ministers and all high government officials including the police, military and the judiciary.

"Corruption, stealing of public funds, sheer graft and greed have eaten into our modern political fabric and should be thoroughly dry cleaned," Dr Osafo said.

Dr Osafo published his assets in a booklet he made available to journalists. He said he generated his income as a World Bank expert for 8 years and later as Economics Advisor for the African Development Bank.

"My total income during this period was between 1.3 to 1.5 million dollars from which my various investments were made. As president I shall duly inform the Ghanaian public every year on the state of my assets and liabilities," he said.



Source: GNA