Leaders urge Mahama to go beyond words (Pg 17)

Leaders of some opposition parties in the country have welcomed President John Dramani Mahama’s call for national duty and commitment to finding a lasting solution to the energy and water crisis, but have urged him to move beyond words.

They said the President’s affirmation of peace and unity was timely because it was only in an atmosphere of peace that the country could come out united after the election.

However, they said the President should move beyond the rhetoric and tackle the country’s energy, water and infrastructural challenges head-on and empower the private sector to lead the country to economic independence.

They were reacting to President Mahama’s independence day speech during which he rallied all Ghanaians to respond to national duty by “also pledging to believe, to sacrifice and to work for the betterment” of  the country.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the Independence day celebrations at the Independence Square in Accra, yesterday, the presidential aspirant of the parties in the 2012 elections --- the Convention Peoples Party’s Dr Foster A. Sakara; Mr Hassan Ayariga, the presidential candidate of the Peoples National Convention, Dr Henry Lartey, of the Great Consolidated Popular Party; Mr Kwasi Addae Odike ; and Nii Allotey Brew Hammond , the Progressive People Party (PPP) Chairman, while acknowledging the need to celebrate the country’s independence also said at 56 years, the current challenges should have been things of the past.

Even though the First National Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Fred Oware, attended the function with some party functionaries, he declined to comment, saying “today is a national holiday, no politics”.

Dr Foster Abu Sakara

Dressed in a white flowing robe and flashing his charismatic smile, Dr Sakara while applauding the President’s speech said a lot more needed to be done to move the nation from its present circumstance.
“We all know the sterling foundation Dr Nkrumah set for us as an example of what Africa should be if we use our resources well but we all know that we have fallen short of that. “

He said the way forward for the country to overcome its challenges was to invest in infrastructure, take advantage of its salt potential and invest in gas infrastructure and support the agriculture sector to thrust the country’s growth.

“This 56th anniversary  gives  us an opportunity not only to count our achievement  but also to count our missed opportunities and determine  with greater resolve to ensure that we change the attitudes and manage our resources  in manner that will deliver those remaining achievements to the next generation.”

He said the only way the country could turn its fortunes around was for the leadership of the country to “focus on the infrastructure that would provide the means by which we can implement our plans, we can make much progress.”

On whether the country’s independence was worth celebrating, he smiled and said “We have all to bear in mind that 56 years in the life of a nation was a very short time, nations have been around for 200, 300 and 1000 years and we are competing with and be conscious of our expectations.”

Dr Henry Lartey

Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers to match a bespectacled and soft-spoken Dr Lartey applauded the President’s speech, saying it was in tandem with the direction the country needed to go at this time.

But he stated that it was  “time for us to empower our people with the needed resources since that was the only way forward. If we don’t help each other, we would never move anywhere”.

He urged Ghanaians to take inspiration from the national anthem and unite to confront the common challenges facing the nation.

He said after 56 years, it was time for the country to reflect on its progress and look at prescriptions that were home grown.

He said not until the country adopted a policy of ‘domestication’ where Ghanaians would grow what they ate and cloth themselves, the country would continue to mark time.

Beyond that, we need to use our resources properly to create the wealth that Ghanaians need to break the cycles of poverty and end the energy and water crisis.

He said while the independence day anniversary was worth celebrating because of the sweat and blood  of the country’s forefathers, the main task of today’s generation and its leadership was to lift the country from economic independence.

Summing up Ghana’s achievement over the last 56 years, he said “we have helped to gain independence; we have faced turbulent moments and have come out stronger democratically.”

“In spite of the challenges, we can certainly make a change and propel our country forward,” he added.

Mr Hassan Ayariga

A smiling Mr Ayariga, the presidential aspirant of the PNC, robed in a striped smock in Ghana’s colours under a white shirt with marching black trousers and shoes, commended the President for touching on issues that were inimical to the country’s progress.

According to him, while the energy and water crisis were very serious, they were issues that could be tackled in no time.

He blamed the present situation on successive governments, saying “these problems did not start today; it is because our past governments failed to put concrete plans in place to address them.”

He, therefore, urged President Mahama to do everything within his power to deal with the challenges as it would ensure that his legacy was on the minds of Ghanaians in years to come.

Mr Ayariga urged Ghanaians to support the President as he implemented his plans for the nation.
“The election is over, we have a president now, let us support him to push our development agenda. The bickering and negative politics will take this country nowhere.”

Mr Ayariga who paid glowing tribute to Dr Nkrumah and the forebears of Ghana’s independence urged the youth to take inspiration from the selfless leadership of the country’s forefathers and strive to make a mark wherever they found themselves.

Mr Akwasi Addai Odike

The United Front Party’s presidential hopeful did not mince words with the state of the country’s energy and water sectors, and urged the President to show commitment to the two sectors to bring relief to Ghanaians.
According to him, the days the state bore the burdens of its citizens was far gone.

“It is time to give the private sector the needed impetus to deliver so that the nation’s problems could be dealt with more effectively.”

“Let us empower the private sector to be up and doing and take the right position and be up and doing as the engine for the growth of our economy. Now the private sector is very weak.  The time has come for the government to sit up and empower the private sector.

On Ghana’s independence celebrations, he said “looking at the challenges confronting us as a nation, we have a lot to fix, and 56 years down the line, if Ghanaians are complaining about lack of social amenities like water and electricity, then there is something wrong somewhere.

He bemoaned the present situation where a little over 60 per cent of the country’s national budget went into paying wages.

Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond

The PPP chairman who was clothed in a kente and a white shirt, while commending the President for his call to national duty took issues with the President for what he described as another day of campaign promises.

“All he did was to give additional promises,promises that he has been giving for years. Four years that he attended the Energy forum at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. During the campaign, he gave those promises,a few weeks ago, he gave those promises. I doubt the promises, I want to see action.”

“Even though the message touched on current predicament concerning water and electricity and all its related issues, he failed to address the major challenge facing young people today—job creation.”

While acknowledging the need to celebrate Ghana’s 56 years of existence, no matter the difficulties, he said at 56, the country needed to overcome a lot of its difficulties.

“Our first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, did marvellously well. Today, we have President Mahama who is making reference to  Nkrumah’s achievement but what has happened to Ghana  after all these years, we see ourselves lacking  water,  we see ourselves struggling to share water with goats and cows. This is not acceptable in this 21st century.”

According to him, in this era, the country should not be struggling for electricity, “we started with Akosombo, by now, with the Bui Dam plant that was put in place  before 1966, we should have had energy in abundance.”

Wiping films of sweat from his brow, he said “Why we don’t have energy in abundance but rather scraping for energy is something that our leaders should accept the blame for.”

Nii Brew-Hammond said the way forward was that when the country celebrated its 57th anniversary next year, all the current failures--jobs, electricity, and water would have been resolved.

Mr Kofi Akpaloo

The IPP presidential hopeful, spotting a black suit, said the President’s message was on point as he rightly stated that “we need to renew our mind and change our attitudes towards doing things.”
“Whatever we are doing, we have to stop, think twice and see whether it is in the interest of this country. That should be our major concern.”

He, however, urged the president to put his foot down and ensure that people put at the helm of affairs delivered.

He noted that the basic challenges facing the country were surmountable but could only be addressed with a leader who would move beyond the “talk and take actions that would drive the economy.”

“Although we have not reached where we should, we should rather rethink and focus our energies on  introspection to devise other ways of doing things from what we are doing wrong today.”