Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo - A Hope Raiser.
What a man! Indeed he is a man!! Even nature cannot but admire this man of high principles and ideas, this man brimming full of energy, this man offering genuine national service in all its ramifications. Indeed he is such a man!
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is the epitome of what decent men and women aspire to be. Undeniably, he is the greatest gift God has bestowed upon this country. He treads where angels at times fear to go. A fearless defender of the rights of the oppressed, his remarkable actions in the political arena have confounded many a critic.
It amazes many people that a person of such high intellect, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, would forsake all luxuries and go to the trenches to fight a dictatorial military government which was armed to the teeth. I remember those dark days in the seventies when I was then some time with a cousin at New Suame.
A hardened and notorious criminal had just been released from jail with the sole purpose of using him to put fear into residents of the area who were opposed to the Unigovtconcept as propounded by the late Gen. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
This political thug would get up at dawn, stand at the entrance of the Church of Pentecost near the Independence Hotel and rain insults on the generality of the people. He would then dare any “foolish person” opposed to the concept to come forward for tutorials. Of course, no sane person accepted the challenge.
Fellow Ghanaians, a great tide in history flows and as it flows, it brings back great memories. I remember that day when members of the Movement for Freedom and Justice led by Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa came to Kumasi. The whole area from Ayigya to Kajetia had been cordoned off to prevent UST students and the pro-democracy group which included Afrifa, Gbedemah, Johnny Hansen, Nana Akufo Addo and others) from getting to the rally grounds at Kajetia.
To show how courageous and tactical the pro-democracy elements, the members had the previous day entered Kumasi incognito.
While some standing byes argued that the pro-democracy group was frightened to its marrow and dared not make any appearance at the rally grounds, the die-hard supporters which of course included my humble self, swore to the highest heavens that no power on earth would stop them from coming to the grounds. We had expected them to come from Ayigya side of Kumasi but were therefore surprised when we saw them in a rickety car coming from the Magazine side of Kumasi (Suame – Kajetia Road). Led by the late Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, these brave and great men of history which included Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, alighted from the vehicle holding hands a mark of solidarity, and sprinted through the Kajetia Roundabout shouting “Union, Yennsom” meaning Union– We won’t accept”. It was at Kajetia Roundabout that one supporter of the Unigov concept threw a stone which injured Mr. Gbedemah on the nose.
When the regime arrested some opponents of the concept, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo stayed behind and together with the Prempeh’s Chambers offered free legal services to the detainees. Those were the days that police truncheons were inserted into the private parts of female students from Legon during similar demonstrations against the same UNIGOV Concept. I wonder which of these regimes- Acheampong SMC and Rawlings AFRC and PNDC was better!
Whilst manypeople fled the country, Nana Akufo Addo stayed behind to do what he knows best – fight dictatorship. A fiery critic, he left no stone unturned to ensure that the atrocities perpetrated by the Acheampong’s regime were exposed. The resistance he put up during those dark days is what has metamorphosed into the freedom you and I are enjoying today. A man deserves praises if he does something good.
To members of the NPP, I appeal to you all to spread the great tidings embodied in the re-election of Nana Akufo Addo as the Presidential Candidate around. He is a true member of the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition to the core.
When he lost the bid to become the Presidential Candidate of the party to Mr. J.A. Kufuor, some of his supporters had expected him to recoil into his shell, but that is not in his character. He played a yeoman’s role in ensuring that JAK became accepted by the generality of the party’s men and women. He made a passionate appeal to his core support base, made up of mostly the youth to accept the candidacy of Mr. Kufuor. He and leading members of the party went to every nook and cranny of the country, to tell Ghanaians the good news being propagated by the party through its elected candidate. He placed his resources at the disposal of the party. “The Statesman”, which was then published by Nana Akufo Addo became the de facto mouth piece of the New Patriotic Party.
Everywhere Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo went, the message was loud, clear and simple: “John Agyekum Kufuor is the best thing to ever happen in the country”. He spared no time, effort and money to ensure that the message got to the grass roots. By his selfless action in promoting the candidature of John Agyekum Kufuor above his own ambition, he taught us a great lesson in politics that the common good of the nation should be put above our narrow, parochial and selfish interest. The man is indeed a patriot!
Ghanaians all over the world should sink their differences and canvass votes for this “Great man of History”to take us fromthe deepest abyss which the Nefarious Destructive Cancer has plunged the country into.
By accompanying Ex Prez Kufuor during his numerous trips abroad as Foreign Minister, he learnt, excelled and mastered the intricacies of government. He even headed the United Nations Security country at a time the volatile and sensitive Arab Israeli Conflict was being discussed. The pragmatic and matured way he handled issues led to representatives of both parties shaking hands and patting one another at the back.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is said to be arrogant, but I say it with a strong conviction and without fear of contradiction that he is not. This accusation is the work of unpatriotic and disgruntled elements that are hell bent on destroying people they feel and think are better than they are. In fact, theallegations should be dismissed as the insinuations of mischief makers.
I recall the occasion when the National Reconciliation Bill was being debated in Parliament and the Nefarious Destructive Cancer threatened to boycott the proceedings. The 2016 Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo eschewed personal pride by withdrawing and apologizing for a remark the then opposition NDC had deemed offensive and inappropriate.
Is this the mark of somebody who is arrogant? Obviously not! Hitler once said that “ If you tell a big lie long enough, the people will believe it”. So, the perception that the Presidential Candidate of the NPP is arrogant has come to be accepted by some people. It is rather unfortunate that a lot of Ghanaians who have never come across this humble but principled man form the bulk of dangerous and ravenous wolves, serpents and vultures who are masquerading as politicians whose major objective is to destroy Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
One thing I have realized about human nature is that decent, principled and hardworking people are few and since the masses gravitate towards those who tell them lies with sugarcoated words, the few decent and principled ones amongst us are frowned at.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo will look at you in the face and tell you the truth no matter how mighty you are. This is the one trait that people have attributed to as arrogance. Visit him during his leisure hours and you will begin to revise your opinion about him.
You see, gold in its primitive form has to be passed through the furnace to be refined. Nana has gone through the baptism of fire and come out a better and refined person. His sojourn in the wilderness as opposition leader has imbued him with new ideas and endeared him to the citizenry. A man who has spent the greater part of his life trying to build a truly democratic nation should be encouraged. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has been tried, tested and found to be competent. This is in sharp contrast to our President Mahama who has spent all his life taking away values that are dear to Society. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo deserves your votes to enable him become President of this country.
After the Supreme Court verdict, 2016 NPP Presidential Candidate took the wisest decision to leave the country for tension to cool down. You see, he was the rallying point of opposition to the declaration that the NDC candidate had won the election. And as long as he remained in the country, it would have been difficult for President Mahama to administer the country in peace. That singular patriotic action of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo at that time he did saved the country from disintegration.
A political juggernaut, Nana Akufo Addo knows his sauce. He knows when and how to parry political blows and when to administer upper cuts. He floats like a butterfly and stinks like a bee and these are traits that have made him relevance in the sphere of affairs whilst most of his colleagues have faded into political oblivion.
Hear Ojei in “King Emene” speak of the qualities of a good king. “A good king is not only one who provides his subjects with the blessings of life but also who has the power of a lion, but chooses to walk on the side of the road”. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has chosen to walk on the side of the road. The poor and the downtrodden masses will feel a sense of belonging under his administration.
I am not a prophet, but I envisage the future of Ghana under Akufo Addo’s presidency as a period of bliss. Yes, the country will undergo a massive transformation never before experienced by any black African Nation from the beginning of this century and the next two centuries. With an icon like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo at the helm of affairs, our Ship of State will never founder on turbulent waters. This is so becauseTruth and Right shall always be victorious. Nana Akufo Addo whose credentials I am propounding is imbued with manifest wisdom and knowledge from God, the Creator of the Universe.
Former President Kufuor is the de Clerk who brought apartheid to an end in South Africa. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is the Mikhail Gorbachev who would bring Giant Soviet Union to its knees. He is God-sent and the answer to all our problems.
Long live Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
Long Live the New Patriotic Party.
Long Live Ghana.
A Happy New Year to all Ghanaians.
God bless you all.
Daniel Danquah Damptey ([email protected]) 0243715297