He said their massive endorsement for him in this year’s polls wiped away his tears of losing the 2012 elections.
Akufo-Addo
added that the increase of the NPP’s parliamentary seats in the region
from zero in 2012 polls to five in the 2016 election brought him great
joy.
Addressing the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa,
on Saturday, as part of his Thank you tour of the region, the
President-elect “the saddest day of my life because, as a son of the
Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, I am fully aware that one of the founders
of the tradition, the man who gave an example of selfless service to
the people of our country, was no less a person than the late Duri Na,
Chief S.D. Dombo. Indeed, our tradition bears his name as one of the
initiators.”
“Beyond him, there were others,
B.K. Adama, Jato Kaleo, Na Abayifa Karbo, Mumuni DImbie. These were the
great figures in the development of the United Party and, subsequently,
the Progress Party. They were the founding pillars of the party of which
I have the honour to be leading. Therefore to be told that the region
from which they came had turned its back totally on our tradition gave
me anguish and sadness that I can never describe. I was inconsolable,”
he said.
The President-Elect noted, however,
that “fortunately, 2016 has now come to wipe away those tears and
feeling of sadness. From 0, we have got to 5 out of 11. God willing, the
next time, we will get the majority of seats and we will know that we
are back again fully. It is a matter of great joy to express to the
people of this region my satisfaction about the outcome of the election
of 2016.”
He told the Chiefs that he remains resolute and
committed to execute all the policies he made during the election 2016
campaigns.
He said assured that chiefs that he would
restructure the Savannah Accelerated Development Agency (SADA) to become
the Northern Development Authority, “back to the original concept that I
mooted in 2008, and for it to become a genuine instrument of progress
for the people of the three northern regions of the country.”
“To
your north, next door neighbours to us, you know better than I do, what
is happening in Burkina Faso. That, today, in Burkina Faso, they are
organising year round agriculture. They are able to be an important
exporter of food, vegetables to Europe, which is bringing money to their
farmers and nation.
“We can do the same here in Ghana, with
your support and the support of the people of the region. This is what
is animating me, so that in Ghana also we can have all-year round
farming that will lift the incomes of our farmers and produce food for
our nation,” he added.
Specifically to the
Chiefs of the region and across the country, Nana Akufo-Addo indicated
that he intends to work very closely with the traditional authorities in
the country, so as to improve the governance of Ghana.
“There
is still a gap in the formal constitutional structure of our democracy
as far as the involvement of traditional rulers are concerned. It is my
intention, with your co-operation and help, that immediately after the
formal hand over of authority, members of my team will sit with
traditional authorities around our country for us to restructure a more
engaged and more involved form of governance in which the traditional
authorities of our country will play a part. It will be a major boost to
the quality of governance in our country,” he added.
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