Independent Presidential Candidate, Nana Kwame Bediako has expressed deep frustration over the entrenched poverty in Ghana, which he attributes to the poor leadership of successive governments.

Speaking during his tour of the Central Region, the independent candidate emphasised the need to break the long-standing political duopoly of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in order to bring meaningful progress to the country.

He urged Ghanaians to join The New Force movement which has real solutions to the nation's challenges.

“If we don’t take this country upon ourselves, if we don’t take power and use our voice to control the governance, then we will be slaves to people. So let’s not be deceived. Sometimes the means is your voice, and sometimes the means is your power” Nana Bediako said

He further urged Ghanaians to move beyond being influenced by incentives like T-shirts and money during elections.

“It’s not about who gave you a T-shirt or who gave you money to vote for them. But it’s about who is ready to build your country,” he said. “It takes millions of us to decide who should lead us because we make the government, the government does not make us. It takes us to form the government.”

Meanwhile, the National Peace Council has urged all presidential candidates to sign the peace pact ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections. The peace pact is a key initiative designed to ensure a peaceful and violence-free election process.

However, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that it will not sign the pact due to unresolved issues from the 2020 elections, including the killing of civilians.

The Peace Council has confirmed that the pact will be officially signed next Thursday at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, with all presidential candidates expected to commit to upholding peace before, during and after the election.

Read also: New Force is not a political party, it’s a movement to develop Ghana – Cheddar