CEL INTENSIFIES AKUFO-ADDO FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN (PAGE 17)

The Campaign for Effective Leadership (CEL), a group with the main objective of providing extensive campaign support for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is targeting floating and first time voters across the country.
This is to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo becomes the next president of Ghana.
Speaking at a forum in Sunyani, in the Brong Ahafo Region, Ms Frances Awurabena Asiam, the National Convener of CEL, said the group would intensify their campaign across the length and breadth of the country to let majority of Ghanaians understand the need to cast their vote for Nana Akufo-Addo in the interest of accelerated national development.
According to her, Nana Akufo-Addo was a beacon of hope for the country since his pragmatic messages reflected the vision and mission of floating voters,the youth, women groups and other stakeholders.
Ms Asiam further said Nana Akufo-Addo’s commitment to continue with the sound pragmatic pro-poor policies of the Kufuor-led government which included the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, access to micro-credit, provision of educational, health, road, industrial and agricultural infrastructure and services across the country made him the next leader to take the nation where it belongs.
She added that Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision of transforming Ghana by modernising agriculture, structural transformation of Northern Ghana through the channelling of $1 billion to the Northern Development Fund and $1 billion to the industrial sector shows his commitment to agriculture and the development of the private sector.
Ms Asiam said Nana Akufo-Addo’s focus on human capital through training, provision of equipment and skill building, with teachers, students, security agencies and the entire work force at the centre, were clear indicators of a serious and focused approach to development issues and above all change management in continuity.
“The innovative, creative and challenging but possible ‘Free Senior High School’ is a ‘feather in Nana Akufo-Addo’s cap’. His futuristic planning for the oil industry in terms of enabling Ghanaians to access high level jobs within that sector deepens his astuteness,” she added.
Furthermore, Ms Asiam said Nana Akufo-Addo’s mission to ensure that the ‘Domestic Content’ of all contracts and procurement reach an all time high of 50 per cent, was indicative of the expansion that the indigenous private sector would witness, saying his vision for the salt and lime industry, the petrochemical and other integrated sectors of the economy were clear pointers to the provision of an enabling environment to accelerate job creation and employment.
She described Nana Akufo-Addo as a unifier who would uphold the unity, dignity and social cohesion which Ghanaians desired, adding that “We believe in Ghana (BIG), we can, we will and we are surely moving forward. “Let no drop of Ghanaian Blood” be shed or spilt because of power” as some of the quotations from him that shows that he is a unifier.
Ms Asiam continued that Nana Akufo-Addo’s deep commitment to the ‘Rule of Law’, upholding ‘Human Rights of the Citizenry’, and deepening the ‘Good Governance System’ in the country, revealed that the nation was moving forward towards a modernised society and ultimately the welfare of all citizens.
“Let us join hands and concentrate our efforts through decorous campaigning devoid of violence and negative tendencies, and sway and swing the electorate to vote massively for Ghana’s next President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo”, she noted.
Madam Franklina Asamoah, the Co-National Convener, Mr Isaac Adjei and Mr Peter Amoh, all members of the CEL, who took turns to address the gathering urged the electorate not to push the polls to the second round, but to ensure a ‘one touch’ victory for Nana Akufo-Addo.
They also urged Ghanaians to safeguard the peace and stability of the nation by ensuring a violence free polls.
Later in an interaction with newsmen, Ms Asiam said the members of the group who were mostly former members of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) were not card bearing members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a section of the media wanted to portray, but they were only campaigning for Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure that he became the next President of Ghana, since so far he was the only candidate with pragmatic and well defined policies to ensure an accelerated development of the country.
She explained that she had not defected to the NPP but had resigned honourably from her party, the DFP, to campaign for Nana Akufo-Addo since she believed that he was committed to the systematic and rapid socio-economic development of the nation, adding that “Nana Akufo-Addo has paid his dues to the nation by helping to entrench constitutional rule and good governance in the country and this is the time for Ghanaians to recognise him by voting massively for him in the December polls”.