Ghanaian President-elect Will Keep Campaign Promises, Spokesman Says

In his first 100 days in office, President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo will implement measures to improve Ghanaians’ lives and restore dignity to the presidency, his spokesman said Thursday.

It’s hoped that Ghanaians “would begin to see a difference,” Mustapha Hamid said. Akufo-Addo will “establish the presidency as the embodiment of the spirit and soul and the values of our country.”

President John Mahama, meanwhile, continued to lead his team in meetings with Akufo-Addo as part of the transition process following the December 7 election. Hamid expressed concern that the outgoing team has yet to fully comply with the Transition Act.

The act stipulates that a month before a general election, notes of all ministries are to be prepared and given to the administrator general. That person then is to give them to the incoming administration’s transition team to study.

Hamid said notes had been received from eight ministries — land and forestry, transport, chieftaincy, food and agriculture, interior, defense , trade and industry, and fisheries — and “we are awaiting the rest.”

Civil society groups say expectations are high as Ghanaians wait to learn whom Akufo-Addo will choose as ministers. However, he can announce his choices only after he is officially installed as president. The swearing-in ceremony is set for January 7.

Hamid said Akufo-Addo would keep his campaign promises, which included the addition of one factory per district and one dam per village.

“I believe by the caliber of people whom he is going to name as ministers and deputy ministers and so on, he would send a clear signal to the country that he intends to run this country well and to run it on the principles of good governance, integrity, honesty and so on,” Hamid said.

“We simply cannot default on certain promises” designed to drive the country forward, he said. In particular, the dam-per-village plan “should be non-negotiable, because the northern part of our country is such that without agriculture, nothing else works. The mainstay of the people is agriculture, and for agriculture to thrive in those parts, you need a system where people can engage in their farming activities 12 months in a year.”

VOA