We Don’t Want ECOWAS Register – Nana

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Created on Saturday, 22 August 2015 00:00

We Don’t Want ECOWAS Register – Nana

22 August 2015

The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the idea of having non-Ghanaians on the voter register – who eventually have a say as to who becomes president – must no longer be countenanced by well-meaning Ghanaians.

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According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the evidence gathered by the NPP, which shows that Ghana’s biometric voter register contains the names of thousands of foreign nationals, is indicative of the fact that the electoral roll is fundamentally flawed and unfit for the 2016 general elections.

“We don’t want a West African election; we want a Ghanaian election. We only want an election of Ghanaian people who are entitled to vote,” he stressed.

The NPP flagbearer made this observation when Alex Kojo Abban, NPP parliamentary candidate for Gomoa West; Gabriel Nsoh Agana, parliamentary candidate for Bongo; Ekow Quansah Hayford, candidate for Mfantseman and Daniel Okyem Aboagye, for Bantama paid separate courtesy calls on him at his Nima residence on Thursday to introduce themselves formally to him after their respective victories in the June 13 parliamentary primaries of the party.

Towards ensuring that a new register is compiled for 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that “The NPP will continue to agitate peacefully and advocate for a new voter register for 2016. At the end of the day, the Electoral Commission will have to look at our evidence, do what is right, and do what the people of Ghana are demanding.”

Nana wondered why the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by its General Secretary, had taken upon itself the role of “chief advocate for the Electoral Commission, an independent body.”

The NDC kicking against a new register, according to him, would not deter the NPP from stressing the need for Ghana to have a new and credible electoral roll before 2016.

“We will not be perturbed (by the actions of the NDC). We want a register that is fit for the purpose. We don’t want an ‘ECOWAS register,'” Nana Addo reiterated.

The ‘fight’ being put up to ensure that a new voter register is not compiled for the 2016 election, Nana Akufo-Addo said, is indicative of the fact that “President Mahama and his NDC party will not want to let power go off easily.”

In spite of this, Nana Akufo-Addo was confident about the party’s chances in the 2016 elections because “Ghanaians have come to realise that there is no other party in Ghana capable of delivering progress and prosperity than the NPP. Our track record, under President Kufuor’s government, from 2001 to 2009 is unmatched, and the reason why Ghanaians are desperate for change in 2016, so that we can resume our work of progress and development.”

He reminded the rank and file of the party that an NPP victory in 2016 is critical, as additional four years under Mahama would be disastrous for the nation.

Akufo-Addo also urged NPP members to refrain from airing their grievances in the media, stressing that “Even if an NPP member insults me, don’t retaliate. If you don’t retaliate, the issue will die. Let us keep our focus – which is winning the 2016 election. Please take the NPP’s message of hope and progress to every household in your constituencies because that is what will bring us victory. We have to make sure that our polling station executives do this work.”

All the candidates assured Nana Akufo-Addo that they would work hard to ensure that their constituencies were delivered to the NPP next year.

Present at the flagbearer’s residence were Yaw Osafo-Maafo, former Finance Minister in the Kufuor administration (former Akim Oda MP and current Chairman of the NPP Council of Elders in the Eastern Region); Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffuor, a member of the National Council Fred Oware, former 1st vice national chairman of the NPP.

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana