Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a leading contender for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential race, has accused the Mills administration of lying to win power following a litany of broken promises. “Professor Mills and John Mahama’s NDC told Ghanaians mountains of lies to vote for them and today here we are: the hardship on Ghanaians is untold and every good policy the NPP, led by Kufuor, laid down for Ghana to grow has been shattered by the NDC,” Nana said. Nana Addo was addressing a large crowd of Tema East NPP delegates in Tema to solicit for their votes in the party’s presidential primary slated for August 7, 2010. Nana Addo indicated that the era of ‘cash and carry’ system of health service delivery, which the NPP replaced with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to bring relief to Ghanaians, had been reintroduced. According to Nana Addo, who lost to President Mills in the 2008 general election, more patients are dying while others are being turned away when they visit hospitals with their NHIS cards because the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has failed to pay for the services the hospitals render to patients. He wondered why the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) had been totally mismanaged and thrown into the garbage. He said, “The NYEP was meant to create employment for the Ghanaian youth who are the future of our country and I must tell you, the NDC is a failure in everything, for which reason all Ghanaians must retire them in 2012 by massively voting them out.” He observed that an outboard motor which sold at GH¢2,200 during the tenure of President Kufuor now sells at GH¢7,000, making it difficult for fisher-folks to purchase the equipment. “Is this the drastic reduction in prices of commodities and tariffs Mills and the NDC promised us? Is this what he told Ghanaians before they all went to vote for him and the NDC? "The hardship Ghanaians are going through today is unprecedented,” Nana Addo asked the chanting delegates who responded “No” to Nana Addo’s questions. To put the economy on the right track, which the NPP started before it lost power to the NDC in 2008, Nana Addo called on all the delegates to vote massively for him when they go to the polls on August 7, 2010 to choose a presidential candidate for the 2012 elections. He assured them that he was ready to strengthen the grassroots level of the party who are the main engine. “You are the owners of the party. You have to decide who should lead you to victory in 2012,” he said. He told the delegates that the NPP’s promises in its 2008 manifesto to make senior high school education free, sustain and increase the Capitation Grant, increase the NYEP intake from the then 107, 000 to 500,000 and extend the School Feeding Programme to all basic schools nationwide remain on his agenda. Nana Addo stated that for the party to regain power in 2012, members must remain united, entreating them to eschew rancor and the use of foul language. Evans Ashong Narh, Member of Parliament for the constituency, told the massive crowd that Nana Addo is the only one who had the capability to unite, motivate and take Ghanaians to the ‘promise land’. He called on the delegates to vote for Nana Addo because, according to him, Nana Addo is the only leader who has what it takes to salvage the crumpled economy of the country. He told the delegates that out of the 107 NPP MPs, about 97 have pledged their allegiance to Nana Addo, explaining that Nana Addo was a tried and tested candidate, for which reason the MPs have all pledged their commitment. Nana Addo’s campaign manager, Boakye Agyako, told the delegates that Nana Addo was the only hope for Ghanaians, a reason for which all the delegates must vote for him. Other NPP stalwarts on the tour with Nana Addo were Yaw Osafo Maafo, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, Professor Mike Oquaye, Ishmael Ashietey and Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin North. Nana Addo and his entourage were met with a rousing welcome by the constituency’s youths amidst live brass band music from the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to the venue, Our Lady of Mercy (OLAM) Senior High School, Tema. Source: Daily Guide/Ghana