The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party says election 2016 is about the future of the Ghanaian youth.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo explained that the electoral choice they make this year will go a long way to determining their future and the future of successive generations of Ghanaians.

He made this known when he attended the inauguration ceremony of the Kobreso NPP Youth Wing on Friday, March 25, at Kobreso, a small town, in the Offinso North constituency, in the Ashanti Region.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the youth of Ghana have a basic choice to make in this year’s election – a choice between the current NDC government which is overseeing unprecedented levels of economic difficulties and hardships, and the NPP which has demonstrated, from 2001 to 2009, that it has a proven track record of delivering progress and prosperity to the people of Ghana.

“If you, the youth, feel comfortable with the current situation, then vote for the NDC and continuity. However, if you are dissatisfied with your current situation, then vote for change in November. We are living today in hardships and difficulties. This is not the kind of Ghana we want. Ghanaians want change and I strongly believe that the youth want change,” he said.

With nearly 60% of Ghana’s population being 35 years and below, the NPP flagbearer explained that if Ghana becomes a success story, the youth will be the biggest beneficiaries. However, if the nation fails, it is the youth who have most to lose.

“Therefore, it is important that the youth view this election as being very critical, and an election whose outcome will determine whether the nation has a bright future. I believe Ghana has a bright future under the right leadership. So there is hope for the youth,” he stressed

He continued, “the bad state of Ghana’s economy is because of bad governance, evidenced by the implementation of bad policies over the last 7 years. It is bad leadership that has brought about the poverty, economic difficulties and hardships Ghanaians are going through. If the fundamentals of our economy were right, there would have been an abundance of jobs in Ghana. So there is hope for Ghana. Ghana’s youth have hope. If we can vote for change in November, I assure you that Ghana will be a nation that will be able to provide for the needs of her youth.”

Have confidence in me

Nana Akufo-Addo, therefore, urged the youth to have confidence in him, trusting that when they give him the mantle to serve the people of Ghana, God-wiling from January 2017, “I am coming to do a job for Ghana. I am coming to use the resources of this nation, not to enrich myself, but for the benefit of all Ghanaians.”

He assured that two main sectors that will deliver the hundreds of thousands of jobs required by the teeming masses of unemployed Ghanaian youth, namely manufacturing and agriculture, will be given a major boost through the implementation of a number of well-thought out policies and programmes.

Nana Akufo-Addo indicated, for example, that Ghana’s over-reliance on cocoa will not be a feature of his government, as an aggressive diversification of cash crops, akin to the developments in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, which earns that country $12 billion in export revenues, will be pursued by his government.

“I said in Sampa, a week ago, that an Akufo-Addo government will establish a Cashew Marketing Board, which will do for cashew farmers exactly what the Cocoa Marketing Board does for cocoa farmers. Likewise, we will give strong government backing to producers of maize. If Ghana is to make any meaningful change in the lives of her people, our efforts must be directed at this sector. The majority of people can only feel a change in their lives when we develop agriculture. That is the road to prosperity in Ghana,” he added.

All these policies, he stressed, will be brought to fruition by providing Ghanaians with a first class government whose main aim will be to improve their living conditions.  Nana Akufo-Addo emphasised that “we in the NPP have the men and the women that will give Ghanaians a first class government which is going to work honestly to solve the problems of our people.” 

In concluding, he appealed to the people of Kobreso that they should, on his third attempt, “have confidence and trust in me, and try me. Give me the chance to show you what I can do. God knows my heart and I can assure you that I won’t disappoint you. Progress and prosperity are what I am offering the youth, and the people of Ghana.”

Nana Akufo-Addo, prior to the inauguration of the youth wing, visited the NPP’s Offinso North constituency chairman, Mr. D.K. Boakye Asare, at his residence in Afrancho, to console him on the loss of his wife.

The NPP flagbearer also paid a courtesy call on the Akwamuhene of Kobreso, who was sitting in state on behalf of the Chief of Kobreso, who is out of the country, to inform him officially of his presence in the town, ahead of the event in Kobreso.

Accompanying Nana Akufo-Addo were the NPP National Women’s Organiser, Otiko Afisa Djaba, former MP for Offinso North and former Minister of Trade and Industry under President Kufuor, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku; MP for Offinso North, Hon. Collins Ntim; MP for Offinso South, Hon. Ben Abdallah; and Campaign Aides to Nana Akufo-Addo, Iddrisu Musah Superior, Pius Enam Hadzide and Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe; amongst others.