Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, Comrades, Fellow Ghanaians and well wishers around the world, Good Afternoon. Let me graciously welcome all of you o
nce again to this Press Conference.About three years ago, I was a technocrat doing my very best to help the Ghana Health Service achieve its mandate of implementing Government Policy and also to help educate Ghanaians on the many health issues. As I traveled throughout the Country identifying the challenges and the opportunities that came with my responsibilities, I was confronted with naked or abject poverty existing side by side with great untapped opportunities. These contradictions, everywhere in the Country, makes me wonder what is happening to this dear country of ours.I was reminded of the saying, “Evil triumphs where good people do nothing” This wise saying set me thinking and re-evaluating my role in the development of this country – the house that Nkrumah built.While as Director General of the Health Service I had done my utmost best, sometimes under very trying circumstances and with very limited resources. This prompted the thought that I could do even more in a different capacity. I could do better by going beyond implementing Policy to making Policy. After much soul searching, and consultations with those close and dear to me, I came to the conclusion that the Presidency offers such an opportunity. I therefore stand before you today with all humility, to end a long period of media and public speculation and to declare my candidature for the flagbearership of the great CONVENTION PEOPLE’S PARTY (CPP).First of all, let me take this opportunity to say it loud and clear that the continued survival of the CPP in Ghana today, is in itself a great victory, a vindication of its past achievements, and an indication of its resilience and invincibility. It is ample evidence that the Party that gave Ghana Independence in the face of so much cynicism, and even hatred, appears after all has been said and done, as the only Party that is capable of rescuing Ghana from the social and economic morass that we find ourselves in today. The CPP is now the only Party that can restore hope and foster shared growth and development for all Ghanaians, especially our women folk and our Youth.Despite forty years of persecution, despite being banned, outlawed, proscribed, forbidden, despised, ridiculed and even buried - the red cockerel still crows aloud with the pride and majesty of its past achievements. Fellow Ghanaians, today, the CPP is ready to redefine the politics of Ghana and indeed of Africa once again.For all those who have sacrificed and stood firm to protect and ultimately redeem the name, the motto, the symbol and above all the spirit of the CPP, let me congratulate you heartily and to say to you ‘you did it not for yourselves, but so that all Ghanaians irrespective of ethnicity, religion, gender or even political affiliation, may benefit’. I say “Ayekoo”;Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, my entry into politics is purely for altruistic reasons – that is, to serve my country, my continent and indeed humanity.However, I am also aware that the failure of past leaders to live up to expectation has created many doubting Thomases amongst us. Fellow countrymen and women, we cannot continue to live off the failure of others, to give up hope and effectively leave our fate to the manipulations of a selfish few. At some point, we have to rise above such doubts and be determined. We must be resolute – with God on our side, everything is possible! We shall overcome.The fact that I have declined and given up many good offers and positions in my career – at home and abroad, to be able to better serve this country with my God-given talents I believe, is testimony enough of my good and committed intentions for Ghana. Indeed it is the least That I can do for a country that has given me and my family so much.You will bear me out that there is in Ghana today, a politics of arrogance, a politics of greed, a politics of selfishness, a politics of disrespect and a politics of impunity that that has placed the needs of a tiny few, above the necessities of the overwhelming majority.A sad state of despair, living side by side with insensitive ostentation, a tale of two cities.We would rather build Presidential palaces than ensure that not a single child is detained at the hospital because of the inability of parents to pay bills. In the short time span of 40 years, we’ve lost all the self-confidence and self-respect that Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP instilled in us. With nostalgia, we recall the times when Ghanaians walked this earth with our shoulders high. Today we hold ourselves in such low esteem that visitors to our country cannot help but to also take advantage of us and further belittle us.We need to remind ourselves on a daily basis that we are God’s children too, that no group of people have a divine right to dominate and exploit the other. I believe that given the opportunity, every Ghanaian will work and rise to their fullest potential and talent for our collective development. And that is what my Government will do. We will provide equal opportunity for all Ghanaians irrespective of their background. I shall work together with all Ghanaians to restore the original spirit and vision of the CPP to Ghana.The Development of Ghana lies in the hands of all of us and I repeat, all of us and not just a chosen few. Each of us, as a piece in a jig-saw puzzle, must fit to make a whole and the absence of just one, renders the whole, incomplete.What is Ghana’s vision today? Middle income status with a per capita income of $1,000 by 2015 seems to be the vision, but I am yet to read a clear road map that will take us there. Is it a shared vision? And how many Ghanaians have been educated to be part of the vision?Do we have a national interest now? What is our national credo? And have we set a national agenda out of it?The Private Sector, we are told, is the engine of growth but it continues to be bogged-down by many problems as indicated by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and others. All this is happening while the state has shied away from the many avenues by which it could serve as a major sponsor or facilitator. The Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) program, lauded at its inception, has all but withered into near oblivion.Employment statistics indicate that Agriculture which is still subsistence (hoe and cutlass) by and large, engages 60% of employees and contributes only about 35% of the GDP. Manufacturing contributes just 9.0% from 16% in the mid-seventies.Ghana is now a nation of traders buying and selling what others have produced – indeed things we used to produce in this country - things such as shoes, radios, TV’s, sugar to matches and tomato paste. The Trade Fair Site that was built by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to showcase Ghana’s industrial prowess, now showcases every other country’s produce but very little of made-in-Ghana. We have allowed the 100 Industries built during the CPP era to collapse and or to be sold. No wonder it is said that while Ghana could not achieve health and education for all, it is on course to achieve shops for all. What a shame!We have allowed over 100 industries built during the CPP era to collapse and or to be sold, while we look to outsiders for our sustenance. The wanton and hasty disposal of the nations assets to outsiders with empire-building ambitions is a bad omen for our future economy. I direct this statement to all who have lined up to buy the Agricultural Development bank that a future CPP Govt. will invalidate any such transaction and take back our property because it is not in the interest of Ghana to give it away. This does not signify a call for unbridled nationalization. No! The ADB is strategic for the mainstay of Ghana’s economic development. Like any self-respecting nation, we must prioritize our national and strategic interests. It is our moral and constitutional duty to do so.Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a divided country. The North and South appear to represent two different worlds. The rural and urban divide is so profound whilst the urban drift continues to create an expanding peri-urban poor to which, much to our peril, no attention is paid. It is a country where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. The end result is the growing crime wave that has engulfed our dear and once safe country. We must reverse this worrying trend. Indeed the CPP is the only Party with a record of consciously working to bridge this divide, and given the mandate of the good people of this country, I shall continue those good works started by my party.We often wonder where it is that we think we are going as a country. We seem to have lost the basics and yet, we want to compete in the global world. We have no capital but yet, we are keen to be identified as capitalists. We must go back to the basics!Any species of animals that cannot feed itself, clothe itself, provide shelter for itself, heal and defend itself cannot survive. Can Ghana feed itself, clothe itself, provide shelter for its citizens, heal and defend itself? The answer to all these is of course, NO. We have the same land mass as the United Kingdom but with only one-third of their population. Under the excuse of a land administration problem, we would sooner weeds grew on the land rather than food. Traditional foods eaten by Ghanaians today come from elsewhere; tomatoes from Burkina Faso, Plantain from the Ivory Coast, Beans from Togo, Onions from Niger, etc. Has Ghana become secondhand? This was a question I asked in an article about three years ago. We proudly wear hand-me-down clothes or ‘first and second choice’, ‘bend down’ boutique items. What is even more disrespectful to fellow Ghanaians is that we allow secondhand panties, handkerchiefs, face towels, socks, brassieres, etc. to be imported into the country because we do not think we should produce them. It does not do our confidence, our image and our developmental needs any good. It did not use to be like this before – what has happened?Are our Politicians aware of the damage they are causing to this country? Do our politicians know where the expanding peri-urban poor, Ghana’s street people and all the hawkers sleep? A visit to the Business District of Accra, Timber Market, Sodom and Gomorrah, Yam Market, etc. all in Accra, Kumasi Race Course and so many other locations at night, tell a very sad and gloomy story.At this juncture let me pay homage to some of our media houses who have ensured that at least once a year, all such persons (street people), are fed well and remembered. Equally, Apostle Kwadwo Safo is singled out for commendation and respect. He has shown that all of us can in our own little or big way, do something to help make this country what we all want it to be. The common contribution to the nation’s development by all is crucial to the entire country’s success story.There are as many uncompleted buildings in Ghana as there are completed buildings. As a poor country, we cannot expect every individual to accumulate enough money to own a house. It would be a sure recipe for corruption. Equally, the unfortunate situation where underpaid workers and ordinary Ghanaians have to pay two to three years rent in advance is to acquiesce to the frightening levels of indiscipline that is stealthily creeping up on us.Our inability to manage and defend ourselves internally demonstrates the spate of armed robbery and senseless killings and maiming of innocent Ghanaians. Personal safety comes at an unaffordable cost. Once upon a time, before 1966, Ghana was not like this.The level of investments in health coupled with the level of ignorance and disinterest in health matters contrive not to allow us to keep healthy lifestyles and to properly heal ourselves. These are the basic fundamental elements that this country must resolve in addition to looking at the bigger picture.The preamble to Ghana’s seven-year development plan (1963-1970), stated that after the execution of the plan, no Ghanaian shall be in need of food, clothing, shelter, health and education. Fellow Ghanaians, what has happened since the CPP was overthrown and the Plan abolished?The welfare of the Ghanaian does not appear important in the politics of Ghana today. The welfare of the Ghanaian must be and will be central to a CPP Government agenda as it was before. It shall be the criteria on which the Government shall be judged. To Ghanaians, you have miraculously survived in a harsh political terrain where you do not appear as a variable in the equation other than to buy your vote every four years.Within the four years, those who came to you and gave you the ¢5,000 and ¢10,000 now Gp 50 and Gh ¢1.00, did you see them again? Did they come back to ask of you? Did they sympathize with you when you couldn’t pay your children’s school fees? The time has now come for all Ghanaians to standup to our politicians and to make them show us some respect and love, for we are all God’s children and we deserve better.Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, I shall single out education for comment because investment in education yields the highest return to our national security and development. The CPP under the Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of a free Ghana and the man voted African Personality of the Millennium, bequeathed us one of the greatest legacies that any govt. could leave to its people - a great educational system which produced some of the best brains in the world today.Kofi Annan is perhaps the most famous of such Ghanaians, but all over the world, Ghanaians who profited from the educational policies of the CPP occupy important positions – from space scientists in the most sophisticated science and engineering laboratories in the United States, Medical Specialists in some of the worlds most advanced Hospitals and clinics, to Mining Engineers in some of the worlds richest mines in Africa and Latin America. We’ve done it all, thanks to the CPP. Indeed, in the first 10 years of the CPP under limited colonial, the number of university students grew by nearly 500%, a feat that has never been repeated by any government since then.In the nine years of the Nkrumah Government, every district then in Ghana had a secondary school. Many training colleges were built to provide teachers for the many basic schools that had sprung up every where in Ghana. All the 6 Public Universities today were built by the Osagyefo. The University of Ghana, KNUST, the University of Cape Coast, the University of Education, Winneba was transformed out of the Ideological Institute. The University of Mines, Tarkwa from the Tarkwa School of Mines and the University of Development Studies from the Nyankpala Agricultural College.Everybody in the Government today benefited from the Educational Policies of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Today, it is as if we have conspired to conceal these facts and to prevent our children from benefiting from the same system that took many of us out of poverty. Equal opportunity and social justice does not exist anymore in Ghana and it cannot be realized from mere verbal pronouncements.Today, all our schools, from primary to university, are in a state of shocking disrepair. 60% of Junior Secondary School (JSS) students do not go to SSS and of those who do, only 10% eventually find their way into our tertiary institutions. The statistics on graduate unemployment is frightening. Over one million children are out of school. This, to say the least, is shameful. The depths to which we as a nation have sunk, is unacceptable for a country that seriously wants to develop and for a country that once was the envy of the world. My administration will reverse this trend.There is certainly not much skill and knowledge taught at the primary and JSS levels that can make any school-leaver at that level survive the harsh realities of life today. Is it therefore surprising when we see all these children selling trifles on streets across the country? All this while, our politicians whom we voted in to serve us, send their children to Private Schools abroad. Do they care? It happened during the period of the National Democratic Congress government, where they found friends to look after their children abroad and the practice continues today.In the Immortalized words of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, he says, ‘membership of the CPP will not be for rewards but for service to nation’.Ladies and Gentlemen, in the area of Health, it is fair to say that we’ve made some major initiatives in recent times, such as the introduction of the National Health Insurance, despite its many implementation problems. Surprisingly the President, Vice President, Ministers and others do not make much reference to the scheme anymore.Perhaps it has gone out of reach of their radar but it is not out of the woods yet. The scheme appears to have been plagued by maladministration and it is still struggling for better management. If the 2006 budget for the NHIS was approved in November 2006, barely a month to the end of the year, then one can appreciate the operating difficulties they must be going through.I call on government to give it all their support, free the Council from bureaucracy, political interference and interest and provide them with all the National Health Levy funds to be used to grow what will be President J A Kufuor’s lasting legacy to all Ghanaians. Monies cannot be kept in the Central Bank and not earn interest. It happened in 2005 and 2006 and it cannot continue that way.Ladies and Gentlemen, I think it is fair to say that zero tolerance for corruption has all but dissipated. The ‘C’ word has now become a mere perception in Government circles and self-interest now reigns.The principle of service to country, so highly championed in the CPP by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, shall be carried to its logical conclusion. The system shall be ruthless on corruption. Poverty cannot be reduced if the hydra-headed levels of corruption are not dealt with, particularly among Politicians and Senior Public and Civil Service officials as well as the givers.Ghana has over sometime now - particularly in the last four or five years, become a major transit zone for narcotics. Its presence in Ghana must give all of us great cause for concern for, it is fast taking root in our communities, on our streets and also in our schools.A CPP government under my direction will broaden the front of the war against drugs to include not just interdiction but also relentless public education as well as treatment for those youth who unfortunately, have fallen victim to this social canker and are languishing in medical facilities and prayer camps around the country. As a Pathologist, I have seen some of the worse consequences of its use – a rupture of the right side of the heart being a pretty violent outcome.Now let me pay profuse homage to a person who is at once a servant of the people and a great leader who worked so hard that Ghana will be free – free of all the difficulties that stare at us today. A man who gave all of us the opportunities we casually exploit today whether positively in the interest of Ghana or, negatively for the interest of others. That he died a pauper must never be forgotten by Ghanaians. He founded the CPP and introduced Nkrumaism – a home grown ideology to achieve the means of a rapid economic development for Ghanaians. ‘Of course the Blackman is capable of managing his own affairs’, was one of his favourite sayings. I salute him, his person and his vision which is even more relevant in today’s Ghana than it was during the struggle for freedom. I salute Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.Events of 2007, the 50th anniversary celebrations, the death of Madam Fathia and the deliberations of the African Union Conference in July 2007 are all testimonies to Osagyefo’s illustriousness. At the conference he was mentioned more times during their deliberations by leaders from all the African Countries than the mention of the names of all the other leaders put together. Truly, ‘Nkrumah never dies’.The history of this our dear nation needs to be re-written to properly reflect the significant contributions that were made towards the development of Ghana. This will serve as a guiding light and an assurance to all those who sit on the fence out of fear that there is indeed a great amount of eternal merit in patriotism.To quote a recent statement of President J A Kufuor to buttress his achievements, he proudly stated that – “it is in my time that Ghana has arisen again”. Needless to say, it would be interesting to find out from His Excellency the President, which other time he might have been alluding to when he used the word ‘again’.Finally, I take this opportunity to wish all other aspiring candidates across the entire political spectrum well in their respective endeavors, so that Ghana, our dear nation, may be the ultimate beneficiary of our collective and diverse service to Ghana.I also wish all of you here, the media personnel as well as sympathizers the very best in all your undertakings.Ghana before self, Ghana deserves better Long live the CPP, long live Nkrumaism and long live Ghana. CPP! “ye be kye na asu obi ara so”
Source:Prof. A. B. Akosah
