AKUFO-ADDO GRATEFUL TO EASTERN REGION (PAGE 16, JAN 23)

THE presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the just-ended election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has expressed his appreciation to the people of the Eastern Region for voting massively for him during the election.
He said although most voters in the region supported him, as well as the NPP, the party lost the elections narrowly to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and expressed the hope that the NPP would win back power in four years’ time.
Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a large gathering of NPP supporters at the Jackson Park in Koforidua on Tuesday to thank the people in the region for their support during the elections.
He was accompanied by a large entourage of party heavyweights such as Messrs Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Jake Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey, both former ministers of state in the Kufuor administration, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, who contested the NPP presidential slot with Nana Akufo-Addo; Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary, some outgoing municipal and district chief executives, as well as some NPP Members of Parliament in the region.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, although the Electoral Commission (EC) declared him the loser with deficit of about 40,000 votes, he accepted the results in the interest of Ghana and as such did not do anything that would disturb the peace prevailing in the country.
He said what was needed was for the rank and file of the NPP, as well as its teeming supporters, not to apportion blame among themselves, but to be more united than before to win more sympathisers to its side for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
“The people in the Eastern Region, as usual, gave their massive support to the NPP, but we lost the elections narrowly and we should not blame anybody within our big family; stay united for a resounding victory in four years’ time,” Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering to a thunderous applause.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who said he was happy that no blood was shed during the elections, added that the NPP would definitely take over from the NDC to continue with its good policies, explaining that it was only the NPP that had the capacity to improve the fortunes of Ghanaians.
Messrs Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Agyarko Kyeremanteng, Ohene Ntow, as well as other officials of the party, took turns to condemn some of the policies of the NDC. They said the NDC could not do anything to improve the lots of the people and gave the assurance that the NPP would, at all cost, kick out the NDC from power through the ballot box, after its first term.