 |
| John Mahama |
- Mr. Chairman
- His Excellency, the Former President of the Republic of Ghana and Founder of the National Democratic Congress, Flt. Lt. (Rtd) Jerry John Rawlings
- Members of the Council of Elders of the NDC
- H.E. Vice-President Paa Kwesi Emissah-Arthur
- The National, Regional and Constituency Executives of the NDC
- Delegates at this Congress from all over Ghana
- Members of the great NDC party here and who are watching us on television or listening to us on radio
- Potential members of the NDC party who will be joining our great party
- Executives of other political parties here present
- Our friends from the media
- Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is with profound humility and immense gratitude that I accept your nomination as the Presidential Candidate and Flagbearer to lead our great party, the National Democratic Congress for the 2012 Elections.
Mr. Chairman, permit me to dedicate this moment to the enduring legacy of one man, a man who put his entire life at the services of our dear nation and in deed of humanity; a man who toiled and served till his last breadth; a man whose life and death rekindled the very soul and spirit of our entire nation. Ghana of old was receding into acrimonious decadence, but His Excellency John Evans Attah Mills resuscitated and revived our resolve to unite, both as a Party and as a Nation; a New, Cleansed Nation. I dedicate my speech to him and his memory!
Let me further express my thanks to the historic legacy of the iconic, inspiring and charismatic founder, of our great party, His Excellency Flight Lt Jerry John Rawlings. He has inspired us all to remain steadfast in our belief that hard work and honesty shall set us free and liberate the inner energies that will transform this nation.
I will also like to thank the National Executive Committee, the various other committees and all the members of our great NDC party for ensuring that the management of the affairs of our party in the past trying weeks, including the organisation and management of this congress, have been intelligent, professional and seamless. To the Chairman, national, regional and constituency executives of this great Party, I salute you all;
To my old and trusted friend and comrade, Vice-President Paa Kwesi as we affectionately called him in Legon, our collective experience in the Aluta days has shown us the discipline of struggle and imbibed us with the humility to provide service in honesty to our people.
Most of all, I will like to thank you the delegates who travelled long distances, some throughout the night yesterday, to be here today to cast your vote to confirm me as your Flagbearer and to assure me of your prayers and support in the coming elections.
My dear wife and life partner – Lordina, you have accompanied me literally all my life on several challenging journeys from high school. I know you are poised to help steer the caravan further and inspire millions of young people as we collectively embark on the victory march.
My story as a farm boy from Bole in the Northern Region epitomises the promise of Ghana. A country of equal opportunity, social justice and the pursuit of happiness by all, irrespective of class and privilege. I attended high school in Tamale, lived and worked in Tamale for a while after graduating; I served my professional terms in modesty; I represented my people in Parliament and I provided my stewardship at every level of human endeavour with humility and respect. As I look across this mammoth congress, I see hope on the faces of every Ghanaian, both here and across our dear nation. I see every Ghanaian living my story and collectively saying we shall make it, as a Nation, if we try.
It is this aspiration that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one Ghanaian family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well. We witnessed this incredible knitting of the fabric of unity a few weeks ago, and today, we will rank highest as the most united country in the world, if such an index were ever to be instituted. In that respect, I salute our dear motherland, GHANA.
As I stand before you today, our nation Ghana is rated among one of the fastest growing economies in the World. We have recorded the most sustained and longest single digit inflation level in Ghana’s history. In less than 4 years into our Better Ghana Agenda, the level of infrastructure development, access to social services and quality of life for ordinary people is unprecedented in Ghana’s history. Our country is now accredited to be among the very first in Africa south of the Sahara to be in transition to middle-income status! We are ranked as one of the highest and fastest growing in internet connectivity; we are ahead of most in soccer; our democracy and the institutions and citizens that sustain it will win gold medal awards if this was part of the Olympics; ladies and gentlemen, do NOT allow anyone to fool you, you are living in one of the greatest nations on this planet, and there is hope for more.
My fellow countrymen, challenges exist. Poverty lingers on in some parts of our country; infrastructure deficiencies continue to constrain productivity gains; the delivery of social and economic services for ordinary Ghanaians is far less than optimal; the Ghanaian private sector needs further encouragement to translate their dedicated energies into transforming the economy to create durable jobs. Happily, as we enter the threshold of our era of transformation, I see the same determination that fostered our renewed unity into one of resolve to open a new leaf.
Where our opponents see despair and despondency, we see incredible progress and hope for the future, millions of Ghanaians observe the same reality, and the international community attests to Ghana’s success story. Where our opponents promise socio-economic transformation in the future, we know, and the international community attests, that Ghana’s transition to middle income has started, here and now!
So, I ask you this basic question: are these opponents living in the same country; if they do not recognize signs of transformation and advancement, how can they promise to industrialise our country? Upon what foundation will they build?
I will shortly outline my vision for this vigorous, renewed effort, but suffice it to say that the monumental gains, in only 3 and half years, have laid a solid foundation for the onslaught on poverty, accelerating infrastructure development, deepening our decentralization and ensuring the effective participation of our citizens in governance, and also holding Government accountable.
To our Party, today is our day of sober reflection about two things: the first is unity among our ranks; and the second is organization.
Fellow leaders of the NDC, we have no option but to unite as a party, ensure victory in December and translate the huge gains made in the first four years of our administration into even more tangible benefits for Ghanaians. If we fail to do that from this moment on, we will be making a mistake for which future generations of NDC members may never forgive us.
What has always set the NDC apart has been our capacity to recognise our differences, openly confront one another when we have to, have our fights even in public, pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one NDC family, to ensure that through hard work and sacrifice victory is won.
I stand here today to pledge that at anytime that this promise is in jeopardy, I will do everything in my power to restore it, so that future generations of the NDC will also achieve their dreams and draw from us the courage to keep the promise alive. I need for each of us the leaders of this party to subscribe to this pledge so that we can be assured a united party.
The greatest threat to our brothers and sisters in opposition is a united NDC; and yet, the greatest asset of our national endowment is unity. A united NDC is the most formidable election machine that this country has ever seen. And united we must, and united we will go to the polls come December 7.
My fellow Akatamansonians, I need to be assured of a united party for one reason. We need a resounding one-touch victory come December 7. We need a victory that will extract conceding speeches from the other candidates within minutes. We need a victory that conserves the resources of the nation from a second round of voting. We need a victory that will have no chance of going to the courts of law.
Above all, fellow Akatamansonians, I need to be assured of unity because I need as President to focus on the nation, even as you focus on the elections. On Tuesday, September the 4th, 2012, I will announce to the nation a number of policy initiatives that will both take us to the end of this year, and set out parameters for sustaining the gains of 4 years under NDC stewardship. We must not allow the electioneering campaign to sidetrack our resolve to maintain steady, robust and sustainable economic fundamentals; to promote job creation; to critically review and take urgent action in key social development and social service areas-health, education, electricity, water supply and sanitation; to re-dedicate attention to accelerated development of the deprived areas of Ghana, with priority on SADA and the Western Corridor; to enhanced social and environmental discipline and safety; and to improve good governance.
Fellow Akatamansonians, we have no other option than to lead this nation. We cannot allow the sweat, toil and sacrifices of President Rawlings, President Mills, all the NDC sympathisers who were victimised and imprisoned by our opponents, all those who died or were wounded or mishandled during the 2008 elections; and all other Akatamansonians to be in vain. We cannot afford to have another period of misrule by any other party at this time of our history. We cannot allow the robust economy that we have built in the last four years to go to waste. We cannot afford to miss the opportunity to translate the growing economy into years of prosperity for Ghanaians.
We must pledge to remain united. We must pledge to march forward together. We must pledge to keep the promise. We must pledge to hold on firmly, without wavering, through December 7 and unto a prosperous future for us all and for all Ghanaians.
For over 5 decades of our independent nationhood, our opponents have subscribed to that old, discredited philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. At the core of their philosophy, they call this a Property-owning Democracy, but what it really means is - you're on your own. No house or meaningful property? Too bad. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have shoes. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us and over 20 million Ghanaians to hold onto our social democratic ideas and philosophy; ideas that liberated and built this nation while their fore-bearers opted to remain under the yoke of colonial rule for the foreseeable future.
Fellow Akatamansonians, your duty is to remain united and to bring everyone back into the fold. My duty is to continue to deliver development and progress to the nation so that we can win over the millions of floating voters. I will not let you down. You must not let me down. This brings me to the second point: we must organize. The legendary Osegyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said: organize, organize, organize! Our own charismatic founder President Rawlings exemplified the most remarkable and practical manifestations of organization and leadership from the grassroots.
As we congregate here, all our organizational assets are being re-activated; both our recently departed ancestors and our living elders have given their blessing; what is left is the resolve of our youth and members.
ARE YOU READY
ARE YOU READY
ARE YOU READY
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless GHANA, our motherland
No comments:
Post a Comment