President Akufo-Addo has emphasized that Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has spent the last 16 years preparing to serve as President. He urged Ghanaians to elect Bawumia, allowing him to implement his innovative ideas to transform the nation.
Akufo-Addo made this appeal while addressing the leadership of the NPP-USA chapter in New York on Sunday, September 22, 2024, during the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The NPP-USA leadership met with him to express their gratitude for his service as President over the past eight years.
We need to work hard, we need to stay united, we need to stay united behind Bawumia and push him to make history and to get him to be the person who breaks the eight for us. That should be our attitude, that we all come together
He [Bawumia] is a very capable man. I have sat in meetings with him for the last 16 years, he is full of ideas, he is full of energy and he is very serious about the development of our country and he has prepared himself to be President. He has prepared himself to be President
So, what is our duty, the rest of us, to come together, to stay focused, and to do whatever we can, each one of us, in our small way, to make sure that on the 7 December, the majority will come in our favour. We can do it, so let us make it our duty to do it
In his address, President Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians to reject any politician, including John Mahama, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who proposes reviewing the free senior high school (Free SHS) policy implemented by his administration over the past eight years.
The President noted that Korea, a nation that gained independence at the same time as Ghana, made significant progress by prioritizing education early in its development, a path that Ghana did not follow.
They decided right from the beginning to put all their money right into education. We didn’t but they did, so it is not surprising that today, they are in the very top-ranked countries who are succeeding with their economy
If we have the same commitment and we get away from politicians who talk about reviewing free SHS, we can put those politicians aside and continue with those who believe in the transformation of our country not by words but by deeds, I think that we too within a generation will make the same kind of transition and transformations that countries like Korea did
Obaa Yaa Amponsah Frimpong, Chairperson of NPP-USA, expressed the chapter’s deep gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for his service to the nation and for implementing the Free SHS policy at the outset of his administration. To show their appreciation, the NPP-USA chapter presented the President with a citation
As you exit the political scenes considering your years of political struggle and your eventual ascension as the 5th president of the 4th Republic of Ghana, many policies and programmes stand tall as your legacy of generational impact for many years to come
One such legacy of significance which epitomises your exemplary and visionary leadership is the conceptualisation and implementation of the Free Senior High School (FSHS) programme, which has given hope to many, boosted education and human resource development in Ghana, breaking down barriers and providing young Ghanaians with equitable, affordable and accessibility to education
Without your thoughtfulness, creativity, and determined leadership, our beloved country Ghana couldn’t have succeeded in implementing such generational policy
This unprecedented milestone cannot go uncelebrated. NPP-USA, for that reason, proudly confers on you a Lifetime Achievement Award this day, 22 September 2024, with the enviable title: NHOMASUAWURA (Champion of Education). Ayekooo Mr President
