Even before the 2012 campaign hots up, Nana Akufo-Addo has thrown the first punch, running down his main contender and President of Ghana JEA Mills, implying that the president has been a total failure. He told thousands of New Patriotic Party supporters at a rally in Accra Saturday that President Mills has doubled Ghana’s debt in three years and has presided over corruption. Nana Addo said the failure of the president to address issues confronting the nation such as unemployment, struggling businesses, high cost of education and widespread corruption in his Thursday’s State of the Nation Address is an indicative that “he is no longer in touch with the concerns of the ordinary Ghanaian”. He promised that if he, Nana Addo, is voted into power all these would be a thing of the past. He reiterated that he will make education at the senior high school free, create more jobs among other things which would be made known in the party’s manifesto for 2012. The New Patriotic Party, he boasted, “has got the men and women who are capable of giving this country first class governance and a first class administration. Our party has a programme for the rapid, economic and social transformation of our nation.” Mincing no words, the NPP flag-bearer asserted that President Mills would certainly not have the moral ground, in this election year, to campaign on any achievement. “The President and his advisors have decided that they cannot campaign on his record; they cannot campaign on his performance; he cannot campaign on the programmes he has for the future of this country; [and] he cannot campaign against my public record. “But they are right. They are right to say they cannot campaign on his record and his performance: the record is poor and the performance is weak. That is why they cannot campaign on that record or that performance.” Nana Akufo-Addo made a subtle reference to the Woyome scandal, saying the huge sum of money given to Mr Alfred Woyome for "no work done" could have been used for many development projects. According to the interim report by the Economic and Organised Crime Office, President Mills twice advised that the money should not be paid, but his appointees went ahead to pay about GH¢51 million to Mr Woyome. Nana Addo therefore posed a rhetorical question, “Who is in charge of Ghana today?” Speaking to recent mudslinging on his person, he averred that those attacks would not succeed. He added the ruling party have resulted to insults and indulging in unnecessary issues because they have no campaign message. “The only campaign weapon that they have is to attack me and blackened my name and reputation in this country. But I have news for the president; I have news for his so-called advisors: no amount of verifications, no amount of insults, no amount of fabrications, no concoctions against me is going to stop me from doing my work for the people of our country and for the progress of our nation. Nothing is going to stop me.” The first rally by the opposition New Patriotic Party for the 2012 general elections was attended by many bigwigs in the party including former President John Agyekum Kufuor.