Breaking 8-yr cycle requires us to gird our loins together – Bawumia

” Thankfully,” he said “we are led by a commander-in-chief, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and in fact he is the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, whose passion and determination to hand over power to an NPP president in 2025 is absolute.,”

“That is why we see the president working tirelessly to make sure we succeed as a government and Party,” De Bawumia said at a TESCON meeting in Cape Coast on Satirday Augist 7

He added “We have implemented some bold policy initiatives and fixed quite a number of things that needed fixing. In fact, we have fixed many things in the country and we are fixing more. “

Below is his full speech …

Fellow Patriots and Tesconians, I am excited once again to have the chance to address you at such an important and unique conference. During the last four and half years I have had various engagements with the TESCON fraternity in diverse ways either at campuses, fora, meetings or conferences, and I think the largest of the gatherings was the 20th anniversary celebration in Ho.

The uniqueness of this conference is that it is the first time all TESCON members of a region are meeting to brainstorm and strategize for the forward march of the Party. What is strikingly inspiring today is the fact that this conference is focused on how we can together Break the 8 year cyclical phenomenon of political leadership of the fourth republic.

I wish to thank the organizers of this noble conference, particularly the central regional executive body led by the veteran Chairman Kutin, the national and regional youth wings and the entire TESCON membership of the region.

My office has been working very closely with the National Youth Wing and TESCON. We will continue to keep this relationship and make it even stronger. I have in my office also some former senior TESCON executives such as my Technical Advisor and Spokesperson, Dr. Gideon Boako, who was once a TESCON leader and Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer. Their constant reminders about pledges to the youth wing and TESCON have and continue to deepen my bonding with you.

Dear Tesconians, the political history of the New Patriotic Party is one that we must all cherish and be proud to be part of. Our Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition tells us our forebears are the doyens of democracy and political party pluralism in Ghana.

Our tradition undoubtedly is the only one that has stood the test of time and is arguably the top party in the country. We have seem our collective pursuits over the years with low and high moments, long years in opposition, particularly during the PNDC/NDC era. Even in those days we never shifted from our ideologies and welfarist center right philosophical stance.

We are a family of the elephant breed. We walk through the deserts and forests aware of the hazards and challenges. But no obstacle or animal is bigger than us that we cannot overcome.

Fellow Kukrudites, the tertiary students wing of the Party, now TESCON, has been very pivotal in all our elections since 1992. TESCON members have played several roles in our electioneering campaigns from advocacy, polling agents, researchers, strategists, and many more.

In government, we have had some of our excelling appointees as former TESCON members. Increasingly, TESCON is becoming the pool of talents for both the Party and Government. Ayekoo TESCON, you have done your best and we are grateful to you.

Whilst acknowledging the significant contribution of TESCON to the progress of Party and Government, we should not forget that TESCON must be appropriately rewarded for their commitment, sacrifices, and tenacity.

We are very much aware of the many appointments of President Akufo-Addo that have gone to the youth and TESCON members during the previous term and this term. What it means is that as we continue to work harder to deliver on our mandate and hold on to power the benefits that will accrue to Ghana, and by extension all of us will be enormous. This is why it is important for us to break the 8.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is one thing saying we will break the 8, it is another thing actually breaking the 8. I am very sure all of us gathered here are not dreaming that the Break the 8 mantra will end as one of the platitudes in politics.. It rather calls for a united party that rises above pettiness, rancor, selfishness, and any other associated intra-party vices

Breaking the 8 is a political pursuit that requires us to gird our loins together, build a strong Party and deliver competently on our mandate. Thankfully, we are led by a commander-in-chief, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and in fact he is the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, whose passion and determination to hand over power to an NPP president in 2025 is absolute. That is why we see the president working tirelessly to make sure we succeed as a government and Party.

We saw elections 2020 and the affirmative verdict of the Ghanaian people on our first term performance. It was a victory and endorsement of the competent work we did in our first term. We have begun our second term which is a build-up on what we did in the first term. As our 2020 manifesto indicated, this term will see to the consolidation of the many laudable initiatives we undertook in the first term, many of which have led to solutions that have never been seen since independence.

We have implemented some bold policy initiatives and fixed quite a number of things that needed fixing. In fact, we have fixed many things in the country and we are fixing more.

By implementing free SHS education for every qualified Ghanaian child we have fixed problems and provided relief to parents and guardians from the agony, shame and indignity of being unable to pay for their ward’s education, and set our teenagers on life-changing path.

By bringing an end to dumsor and at the same time cumulatively reducing electricity prices for all Ghanaians we have fixed the woes of households and enterprises, be they cold stores or vulcanizing.

By undertaking the banking sector clean-up exercise, we have fixed the problem of depositors losing their life time savings.

By restoring the teacher and nursing trainees allowances we have fixed parts of their daily education hurdles.

We are fixing unemployment with jobs for our youth including unemployed university graduates. We have unfrozen the freeze on recruitment into the public sector, and implemented NABCO to create even more employment opportunities.

By providing an ambulance to each constituency we have fixed the problem of an injured farmer or pregnant woman due for labour in Mankesim, Saboba, Asante Akim, Bomaa or Sogakope who hitherto could not have access to the emergency service of an ambulance.

With our digitalization agenda we are fixing the informal economy to make lives better and doing business friendly.

Our 1D1F policy is delivering many industries and helping fix several challenges, including unemployment.

We have fixed many of the corrupt practices associated with the acquisition of passports and drivers licenses.

We have fixed the challenges associated with renewing NHIS membership.

We are fixing the cumbersome process of clearing goods at the ports with the paperless system.

The problem of No national ID card has been largely fixed and moving rapidly with its integration with other IDs.

We have fixed the problem of the lack of a working nationwide address system.

Ladies and gentlemen, as indicated earlier, many of these challenges we have fixed had not been addressed since independence. Yes, there are a lot more to fix but we are proud of what we have been able to achieve in the first term and we will build on them.

On the macro-economic front, we saw how our government through prudent and pragmatic approaches restored stability ready for a flight until Covid-19 set in with its destructive effects. But for the disruptive effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the results of our macro-fiscal consolidation after three years in office were evident and the data shows that significant progress had been made to restore macroeconomic stability and economic growth.

It is the results of the work we did in three years that gave us the cushion against the ravages of COVID-19. Today, while many countries are still struggling to navigate through the tortuous path of a COVID-19 induced economy, ours is gradually showing signs of rebound and has become the reference point for many.

Our Overall GDP (excluding oil) which declined by 5.8 percent and 3.0 percent in the second and third quarters of 2020 have rebounded strongly and registered a positive growth of 4.0 percent in the last quarter of 2020. This growth momentum has continued in the first quarter of 2021 with the economy registering a further non-oil growth of 4.6 percent.

We are seeing a strong pick-up in economic activity as the Bank of Ghana’s Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) records 33.1 percent annual growth this year as compared to a contraction of 10.2 percent in the corresponding period of 2020. This signifies a restoration of the momentum of economic growth which we lost during last year’s pandemic period.

We are witnessing one of the lowest inflation numbers on record in about two decades. Inflation, which, at the height of the pandemic, hovered around 11.8 percent, dropped to 7.5 percent in May 2021, before inching up slightly to 7.8 percent as at June.

As I keep emphasizing all the time, our cedi exchange rate management has been one of the best for any first term government since 1992 and the performance for 2020 and 2021 have been superb. The stability of the Cedi so far this year has been the best for the same period after any election year under the Fourth Republic.

Cumulatively, from the beginning of the year to date, the exchange rate has depreciated by 0.6 percent against the US Dollar and appreciated by 3.6 percent against the Euro. This stability is expected to be maintained as we move towards the close of the year 2021.

Today, our international reserves position has increased and is at the equivalence of five (5) months of imports cover, one of the highest on record. This compares well with a stock position that was equivalent to 4.3 months imports cover, in the corresponding period last year.

Mr. Chairman, Fellow Tesconians, these are remarkable gains that should not just make us proud but usher us into believing that there is still more to be done and we must do. I am of the conviction that if we are able to build on this solid foundation, complete all initiated projects, and execute our 2020 manifesto pledges, Ghanaians will give us the opportunity to continue our governance beyond 2024.

I bring you the assurances of President Nana Akufo-Addo that we will do our best not to disappoint Ghanaians and you, our gallant soldiers. We equally require you to join hands with us in this pursuit and let us see ourselves as collaborators and agents of Break the 8.

The President and I are committed to Breakingthe 8 and I implore you, cherished patriot to commit to same.

We are committed to the pursuit of building Ghana as prosperous economy, free and fair. We are committed to ensuring that we build an efficient public sector committed to and supporting the growth of the private sector as the source of job creation. We are committed to fighting bribery and corruption. We are committed to building a future for the youth and the next generation and expanding their opportunities in the fast emerging world of technological innovation and digitization.

We are committed to building a good society for all.

Thank you very much and may God bless us all and make NPP and Ghana stronger.

God Bless our homeland Ghana

Source: 3news.com