President assures ‘good deal’ with IMF

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians that his government will negotiate a good deal that will favour and extricate Ghana from the current economic turmoil, as the country turns to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial relief.

He said the deal the government would negotiate would put the country’s economy back on track, adding that “the NPP is the party concerned with the welfare of the people of Ghana”.

“In the heights of the pandemic when people had to stay home, no single worker was dismissed and there was no salary cut. We supplied free water and ensured a cut in the price of electricity, and that is the concern of NPP. We will be guided by these concerns as we engage the IMF,” the President noted.

The President gave the assurance during the NPP’s national delegates’ conference at the Accra Sports Stadium over the weekend. He said the NPP inherited a derailed IMF programme, which the government had worked hard to take the country out until the effects of COVID-19 hit the economy to throw things out of gear.

“We survived the pandemic with one of the lowest mortality rates than any government of any country in the world. We will build an economy that will provide the platform for a victory in the election 2024,” he assured delegates.

‘Breaking the 8’

Speaking at the NPP’s delegate congress held over the weekend, President Nana Akufo-Addo called on the newly elected national officers of the NPP to help the party remain in power after the 2024 general election.

“Unity is key in breaking the eight; therefore, the new executives should be able to hold the party together in the lead up to the next election. It’s our historic duty to maintain the NPP in office under a new candidate and under a new leader,” he told the delegates.

“An important step towards that victory is the work we’re going to do today,” the President said ahead of the elections. “Let’s make sure that we elect men and women who can hold us together, and enable us to work together to be able to surmount our mantra, ‘breaking the eight’.”

He said he was convinced that the party would retain power in 2024, stressing: “We shall break the 8 in 2024”.

President Akufo-Addo also congratulated the immediate past National Chairman of the party, Freddie Blay, for his dedication and role in the party’s victories in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

Regaining confidence

Ahead of the elections, former President John Agyekum Kufuor called on delegates of the NPP to elect national executives who can lead the party to regain the confidence of Ghanaians.

In a virtual address, he advised delegates to choose competent leaders to lead the party to win the 2024 elections.

“…To find out the sort of leadership that will enable us regain the confidence of the people of Ghana, and let us show true respect to the idea, the vision, that true sovereignty is from the people,” he told the delegates.

“When we do that, then our definition of democracy will conform with the idea, eloquently expressed as government of, for and by the people, and I tell you most of them will rally behind us and follow the party in terms of governance,” he added.