Ghana: NPP launches its campaign for December 2012 elections

In a bid to take back the political initiative from new President John Mahama, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched its manifesto, entitled “Transforming Our Lives; Transforming Ghana, building a free, fair and prosperous society”, and held a campaign rally at Mantse Agbona in James Town which is one of the poorest areas of the capital Accra.

 

The 2012 presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and all of the NPP parliamentary candidates were officially presented to the electorate. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor also spoke at the event. This was meant to show the NPP's new sense of unity cementing the bonds between Akufo-Addo (Akypem); Bawumia (Northern Muslim ex-President Kufuor (Ashanti).

 

Akufo-Addo got that message across effectively and concentrated on pushing an overall positive note – about the NPP's determination to invest in mass education and training, and boost opportunities for entrepreneurs. Secondary education for all is the NPP's big new idea – even if they are doubts about its cost see Comment & Analysis) If elected the transformation of the country's education structure would be the cornerstone of NPP government policy. Akufo-Addo told supporters his party would redefine a school system in which 60% of children did not reach secondary school and some did not even make it into the classroom.

 

The NPP's launch went down well in Greater Accra which is a swing region and a key test of voter sentiment. It established the NPP as policy-heavy and was a sharp rebuke to the NDC which had been relying on strong voter sentiment for the late President John Atta Mills and his role as “prince of pace”.

 

The manifesto launch has both sharpened and elevated the election campaign above the previous name calling on both sides. The attack dogs are, however, still operating but both Akufo-Addo and Mahama are trying to rise above it by adopting a statesmanlike demeanour. The NPP chairman denigrated the Mills-Mahama government as Ghana's “worst-ever” which, to many, might seem hyperbole but it will certainly spark a fierce response from the NDC's own militants.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

 

© 2012 Menas Associates

2011 World Food Prize winners announced

Former Ghanaian president John Agyekum Kufuor, along with former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has been given the 2011 World Food Prize award in a ceremony at the US State Department. Kufuor was warded a £155,000 for improving Ghana's cocoa industry and significantly reducing hunger levels in Ghana during his eight years in power.

The World Food Prize Foundation is honouring the two former presidents for creating and implementing government policies that alleviated hunger and poverty in their countries. The winners were commended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Kufuor was also applauded for keeping Ghana on course to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals by cutting in half the proportion of population living in hunger and on less than one dollar per month.

Speaking to Citi News Wednesday June 22nd, Kufuor said: “'I am overjoyed with it because whilst in Government I knew that poverty and hunger went hand in hand and so my Government tried very hard to lift our country out of that bracket. Especially in line with the Millennium Development Goals, the first item was to fight against hunger and poverty. So we did work that passionately hoping to help Ghana. We tried to improve agricultural production because over 60 per cent of our people are rural and they live on agriculture. There is so much unemployment at home so we thought if we improved agriculture, modernised and commercialised it, we will be fighting against unemployment and poverty and along with it hunger, and I think we went some way.”

The two winners will be formally awarded the World Food Prize at the 25th Anniversary Laureate Award Ceremony on 13th October 2011.

Sources: BBC News, Modern Ghana, International Business Times

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

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Ghana delivers first oil amid hopes and fears

Ghana has delivered its first barrels of oil from the Jubilee wells, days after President John Atta Mills opened the valves, in a televised inauguration ceremony, at the 330 metre long platform off the country's Atlantic coast. It is estimated that the Jubilee field holds as much as 1.8 billion barrels of crude oil, which could earn Ghana around 50 per cent of its national revenue within the next 20 years.

Ghana has taken steps to ensure that oil revenue is distributed fairly and to the benefit of Ghanaian people. In a speech before the inauguration ceremony, Mills said that Ghana's oil wealth will be a “blessing” rather than a source of strife.

The country's lawmakers have stipulated that a clause, in the new Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, mandates the government to use the country's oil as collateral in securing funds to develop Ghana's infrastructure and economy.


Former Ghanaian president John Agyekum Kufuor has called on Ghana to manage its oil wealth judiciously and for the benefit of the people; further adding that the government should safeguard the country's energy sector with regulation that is transparent and free from corruption.

In an attempt to counter Ghana's fears that oil wealth may bring violence and conflict, Mills said that he intends to see that oil resources are used judiciously to reconstruct the country's roads and build hospitals. Speaking along the same lines, Select Committee's Energy Chairman, Moses Asaga, said that first Ghanaian oil has united the country's political parties as they prepare to develop the nation. He added that the government has also come up with a heritage fund initiative to stabilise Ghana's economy.

President of Nzema Maanle Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye, has expressed concern about the dispensation of Ghana's oil wealth, saying that he thought that meeting the 10 per cent revenue demand made by the Chiefs of Ghana's Western region, may be problematic. The demand has been officialy confirmed by Ghana's Vice President John Mahama.

Sources: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Modern Ghana, Peace FM Online

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.