ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
An Akufo-Addo government will strive to assist the Armed Forces and all the other security services to perform independently their constitutionally mandated roles professionally in order to sustain the peace and security of the country.
Mr Chairman, the NPP vision for the Ghana Armed Forces is summarised by this quote attributed to Field Marshall Montgomery, one of the most inspirational commanders of World War 2.
He said and it is worth quoting him: “The soldier who is well provided for, who is not disturbed by petty and unnecessary inconveniences, who knows that everything possible is being done for him, who is well-clothed and well-fed, is a contented soldier.”
Achieving such a state for the officers and men of Ghana Armed Forces will, Insha Allah, be the focus of an Akufo-Addo government.
In terms of military preparedness, we will actively support contemporary training methods that not only keep our soldiers abreast with international military trends, but also ensure that they remain the beacon of Armed Forces across the Continent.
We will also provide them with modern military equipment which will complement the training they will receive.
To accomplish this, the next NPP government will consult with the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces to draw up short, medium and long term development plans in order to innovate policies that will be of maximum benefit to the officers and men.
Mr Chairman, the next NPP government would be committed to enriching the human resource base of the Ghana Armed Forces.
We will support initiatives to provide further education for soldiers, sailors and airmen to further enhance their skills at protecting our territorial integrity.
With regard to our sailors, the advent of oil has made their role more critical as they now have the added responsibility to protect our waters and oil fields from new dangers.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am particularly determined to allocate the needed resources to protect our sea lines of communication, especially in the wake of current activities in the Gulf of Guinea including piracy, disruptions and destruction oil/gas operations and installations, bunkering, drug trafficking and smuggling, among others.
Our airmen will not be left out of this programme of resource enhancement, so that we have an air force worthy of the name.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the next NPP government will build on the Kufuor government’s success in boosting the morale of the Armed Forces.
More residential accommodation facilities would be put up in all the units to reduce the acute accommodation problem facing our soldiers.
Buildings started by the Kufuor Government, which are nearing completion but have been abandoned by the NDC government, would be completed as a matter of urgency.
In the meantime, many soldiers live in rented accommodation, but are, however, made to contribute 5% of their salaries to a fund for the maintenance of barracks.
The next NPP government will ensure that these monies are used for the specified purpose such that the soldiers are not left out of pocket.
A contented soldier is one whose remuneration does not unduly distract him from his mandate.
An Akufo-Addo government will take the welfare of our soldiers very seriously.
Mr Chairman, the 37 Military Hospital is the National Emergency and Disaster Hospital for the country.
Under the last NPP government, it was expanded, refurbished and re-equipped.
As a result, it was designated a Level IV referral hospital of the United Nations.
Government subventions to 37 Military Hospital would be increased to enable the Hospital meet its function as a national emergency hospital.
My government will ensure that it retains that status and continues to provide first class healthcare for Members of the Armed Forces and their families.
With the Military Hospital’s new status as a referral hospital, we need to upgrade and rehabilitate urgently all Garrison Medical Reception Centres to serve as Primary Health Care Centres for improved medical care delivery for our soldiers.
Chairman, Article 200 (3) of the 1992 Constitution states that “the Police service shall be equipped and maintained to perform its traditional role of maintaining law and order”.
The ultimate goal of this provision is to ensure explicitly that the ordinary Ghanaian feels safe and can go about his everyday business free from the fear of crime.
The police have the primary duty of ensuring law and order in our nation.
An Akufo-Addo government will ensure that our policemen and women are left to focus on this mandate by providing better training, increased resources and enhanced conditions.
I envisage a Police Service that goes about its duty of protecting ordinary citizens confident that there will be no interference from the powers that be.
Under an Akufo-Addo government, no Collins Dauda-backed policing will be allowed to prevail.
It is often said that the public is the police and the police is the public.
Currently, the Police Service, unfortunately, suffers a low public image.
We seem to be back to the old days when a call to the police station is answered with “sorry, we have no car”, many calls are now answered with: “sorry we have no fuel”!
Under an Akufo-Addo Presidency, we will work tirelessly with the Police leadership to go back to the Kufuor days of policing where people felt that all the efforts of the police were geared towards making their lives more comfortable.
Nowadays, the challenges our policemen face at work are more sophisticated in nature.
Innovative drug trafficking, cybercrime, intelligent fraud and money laundering are some of the crimes that they have to fight.
An Akufo-Addo government will ensure the Criminal Investigations Department benefits from using modern tools of policing like social media skills training, forensic accounting training, as well as that will facilitate their work.
Most importantly we will ensure that the Detective Training School is rehabilitated and well equipped to provide modern detective training to our men and women of the service.
A better equipped CID will ensure investigations into crimes are solved and would go a long way to building confidence and trust in the Service.
In this respect, ordinary communication equipment like telephones, walkie-talkies, radio equipment will be provided to boost the efforts of our police.
It is evident that Ghana needs to boost the numbers of the Police Service.
as we have a need for more police officers than we currently have manning our streets.
According to the United Nations, the Police Public Ratio (PPR) for any country should be 1:500.
Currently Ghana’s ratio stands at 1:1200.
An Akufo-Addo government will be committed to increasing police numbers to provide a safer Ghana for us all.
I must say a few words on the other services that even though not directly in the frontline of the maintenance of public order, constitute a critical part of the security of the nation and during election times are called upon to perform such duties.
I refer to the Prison Service, the Immigration Service and the Fire Service.
The Prison Service in particular tends always to feel like the unloved and ignored child of the security services.
This is a pity as the men and women perform a critical duty to keep our nation safe.
I acknowledge that the problems that face the prisons deserve urgent attention.
The last NPP government demonstrated its commitment to tackle the problems by building the first correctional center that had been built in Ghana for the past 50 years, the modern prison complex in Ankaful.
It is time another such prison was built in the northern sector of the country to ease the intense congestion.
We are committed to provide the tools to make the difficult work easier to perform.
At this point, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to salute our Immigration Services for their continuous efforts in keeping our borders safe and ensuring the safe movement of people through our borders.
The Ghana Immigration Service will have a critical role to play in the next NPP government’s bid to embark on the economic transformation of Ghana.
We will focus, therefore, on equipping the Service with improved, modern state-of the art technology that enhances and facilitates the execution of their given mandate.
The Fire Service has been in news for the valiant efforts they made recently in saving property and life during the various market fires and the Melcom disaster.
To the men and women of the Fire Service, I wish to congratulate you warmly on your efforts.
The Melcom disaster has underlined the need for greater resourcing of the Service such that we do not have to rely on external assistance in carrying out such functions.
It is heartbreaking to see people’s lifetime earnings go up in smoke due to negligence on someone else’s part.
An Akufo-Addo government will support the Fire Service in its preventive functions to educate our market woman in particular and the general public in general on how to avoid behaviours that lead to such conflagration.
We will also provide advanced fire-fighting equipment that puts them at readiness to perform their core functions.
Our country has an enviable record of the smooth transfer of power after elections.
In 2001, the government of President J.J.
Rawlings handed over peacefully to the NPP Government of President J.A.
In 2009, President J.A.
Kufuor, after the defeat of the NPP by the slimmest of margins in Ghana’s or, indeed, Africa’s electoral history, handed over peacefully to the government of President J.E.A.
Mills.
The Ghanaian people expect nothing less than that from our caretaker President, if a similar situation was to arise.
We do not want to see a Laurent Gbagbo here in Ghana.
For myself, I am and remain an agent of peace as I demonstrated in 2008.
Indeed, the ambitious programme of social and economic transformation that the NPP and I have outlined in this campaign for the progress and prosperity of our nation cannot be achieved unless we have conditions of peace across the length and breadth of our country.
Ladies and gentlemen, we all sleep, feeling safe because the men and women of the services work to keep our nation and our streets safe.
We pay tribute to the men and women of the services.
They deserve our respect and support and I look forward to working with them when, with God’s help and your votes on December 7, an NPP government under my leadership is elected to run the affairs of this nation.
Thank you, God bless you, God bless Ghana.
Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen of the media for responding to our invitation.
Through your esteemed media, we wish to convey to our fellow countrymen the grave danger we see looming over our beloved nation.
This danger comes clothed in the garment of democracy but in reality, is naked despotism and tyranny.
The Military Siege In Eastern border towns and other border towns The immediate reason for this press conference is the recent shocking mass deployment of military personnel along the border towns of the Volta region.
Similar deployment has been done in the Oti Region, the Northern Region, the Upper East Region and the Upper West Region.
It is no coincidence that all these places happen to be strongholds of the opposition NDC.
We will this morning touch particularly on the situation in the Ketu South Municipality and other parts of the Volta region.
We are in no doubt that this massive deployment of Military and other security personnel in the Ketu South Municipality and other border towns of the region has been timed to coincide with the commencement of the Voter Registration exercise across the country.
These deployments are creating panic and anxiety among residents of Ketu south and other affected towns and districts.
Interviews done by some of your colleagues in the media reveal that residents along the Ghana-Togo border are living in a state of fear due to the presence of the military.
The MCE of Ketu South, who represents President Akufo Addo here, has explained that the reason for the deployment of the military personnel is so they can help check unapproved routes to prevent foreigners with Covid 19 from coming from neighbouring Togo and increase cases of Covid 19 in the Ghana.
This position has been supported by the Volta regional Minister, Dr Letsa as well.
So, this is the official government explanation for the turning of Aflao and other border towns in the region into virtual war zones.
How laughable!
How utterly ridiculous!
Total Covid 19 case count in Togo stands at about 615.
This is less than Greater Accra, less than Ashanti region, less than Western region, less than Central region and just about 75 cases more than the case count in Eastern region.
If there is any fear of Covid, it should rather be the people of Togo who should be afraid of Ghanaians crossing the border to spread Covid 19 in Togo and not the other way round.
The epicentre of Covid 19 in West Africa is not Togo.
Ghana is in far worse trouble than Togo.
One of the first persons who came into the country with the virus was in the president's entourage in Oslo.
So, this official reason being provided is hollow.
It is laughable and actually represents an insult to the intelligence of our people.
Just a few days ago, the NPP parliamentary primaries across different constituencies became virtual Covid 19 dissemination zones.
If the NPP government is looking for the real threat of covid 19, they do not have to look far.
So, they should spare us the cock and bull story about the need to patrol the borders to stop foreigners with the virus from coming across.
They should have the courage to tell the truth for once.
NPP MP, KT Hammond, in a recent interview, at least showed some honesty when he unwittingly disclosed what is obviously the real reason behind the deployment.
He revealed that the deployment of troops to Ketu South and other eastern border towns is to prevent Togolese from coming across the border to come register.
We need no rocket scientist to understand that the grand agenda is to intimidate our teeming supporters and make it difficult for them to come out in their numbers to register when the registration exercise begins tomorrow, Tuesday, 30th of June.
NPP's Perennial Animosity Towards the People of The Volta Region.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, to understand the real reason behind this massing up of military and other security personnel in the Ketu South and other towns of the Volta region, it is important that we try to help the nation to see the big picture.
This big picture is NPP's perennial discrimination against the people of the Volta region.
The bottom line is that as far as the NPP is concerned, the people of the Volta region are foreigners; The Ewes are not Ghanaians.
People who do not know this might be surprised about this statement; so, let us do a systematic elaboration to establish this beyond any doubt.
To begin, let us remind everyone especially the young people of Ghana that the NPP family has been on record, accusing the founder of our country, Kwame Nkrumah of being a foreigner.
Specifically, they said he was from Liberia.
A member of the same group also took President Rawlings to court over claims that he was not a Ghanaian.
The mother of President Rawlings is from Keta in the Volta region.
He was born in the Gold Coast in 1947.
He served this country as an air force officer; became the head of state of this beloved country.
Despite all these, the NPP deemed him not good enough to be a Ghanaian- after all in the view of NPP, who have always believed they are the “owners of Ghana” , Keta is not part of Ghana.
If President Rawlings, despite hailing from Keta in the Volta region, was deemed not to be a Ghanaian, why is anyone in shock when we state that the NPP has an ingrained belief that the people of Volta region are aliens and therefore should not be allowed to determine the political destiny of Ghana?
Keta by the way, where Rawlings comes from, has always been a part of the Gold Coast.
In fact, both Keta and Ketu districts have always been an integral part of the Gold Coast.
They have never been part of Togo at any point.
But not in the view of the “ owners of Ghana.”
So many other sons and daughters of the Volta region have faced similar discrimination in the hands of the NPP.
Some of you may recall how in 2009, at my parliamentary vetting to become a deputy minister of finance in the government of President Mills, NPP MP’s following the same agenda, boldly claimed that I was not a Ghanaian and therefore should not be allowed to become a member of Ghana’s government.
My father Joseph Kofi Kwetey hails from Nogokpo in the Ketu South Constituency and from Anyako in the Keta constituency.
But in the opinion of the “ owners of Ghana ”, I am not a Ghanaian.
My mother Benonia Hlomador Ayivor, hails from Denu and Klikor both in the Ketu south constituency; but in the opinion of “ the owners of Ghana” , myself and the people of Ketu South that I have the privilege of representing in parliament, are not worthy to be called Ghanaians.
It is against this background that we need to view what the NPP is doing in Ketu South and Other border towns of the Volta region.
This siege of the Volta region dates back to NPPs perennial hatred towards any group of people that they perceive as standing between them and their insatiable desire for absolute political power.
The unfounded and rather incoherent rantings of my friend K.T Hammond will ordinarily be treated as just that.
But they reveal the same deep-seated belief that somehow the defeat of the NPP in elections in this country is on account of foreigners who come from Togo.
He actually claimed that the NPP was coasting to victory in the first round of the 2008 elections and Togolese were allowed to come from across the border to overturn the results in the second round.
Somehow KT Hammond and the NPP have forgotten that even back in 2008, the NPP left all other borders open but closed the eastern border of the country before and during the first and second round elections.
So, the defeat of the NPP in 2008 had absolutely nothing to do with foreigners coming from Togo.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, this show of tribal hatred did not start today.
The Nana Addo government is only taking it to a whole new level.
This deep-seated animosity comes from a sense of entitlement- the belief that because they are “superior Ghanaians”, all others who do not share their political perspective must be deemed ineligible so that the political destiny of Ghana would remain exclusively in their hands.
The people of Cote D'Ivoire have suffered largely from that same sense of superiority.
The concept known as Ivoiriete - i.e the proper Ivorian- led to the unfortunate and bloody civil war that almost destroyed the hitherto very peaceful country of la Cote D' Ivoire.
During Konan Bedie's presidency, ethnic tensions rose sharply, with a widening rift between the country's pre-dominantly Muslim north and mainly Christian south.
Before the 1995 and the 2000 elections, a law drafted by President Henri Konan Bédié and upheld by the Supreme Court required both parents of a presidential candidate to be born within Côte d'Ivoire.
This led to the disqualification of the northern presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara, who represented the predominantly Muslim north and poor settler workers who worked on coffee and cocoa plantations in the south.
We, in Ghana must be grateful to God that despite the perennial attempt by the NPP family to define who a “ proper Ghanaian ” is, we have, as a country largely avoided the path of national disintegration and bloody ethnic conflict.
Just as Ivoiriete is dangerous, so also is “ Ghanaete ”, iniquitous and dangerous.
It is high time the NPP family were told once and for all, that the fact that they never once won any election against Kwame Nkrumah had nothing to do with foreigners.
Nkrumah was beloved by most of the people of Ghana and won elections freely and fairly.
The founder of the NPP family, JB Danquah could not even win one election in his lifetime.
Instead of addressing why their political group has for the most part lost most elections, the NPP chooses rather to direct their venom and hatred towards innocent groups and accuse them of being aliens.
It will be recalled that this was the main reason that the NPP family introduced the Aliens Compliance Order in 1969- a wicked legislation introduced by them when they finally won through manipulation the 1969 elections after orchestrating to have the CPP banned.
What cowards and manipulators they have always been!
It is high time the NPP family were informed that their humiliating electoral loss to President Rawlings in both the 1992 and 1996 elections, had nothing to do with foreigners from Togo.
The Volta region together with 8 other regions voted for President Rawlings and the NDC in both 1992 and 1996.
This was an overwhelming support in all the regions of Ghana except one.
Infact, there is no previous election the NDC has won in Ghana that the party did not win at least 8 of the 10 regions.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, where from all this hatred and animosity towards one region and all the spurious and unfounded claims that the painful defeats suffered by the NPP were on account of foreigners from Togo?
Was it Togolese who have been winning the Central and Western regions for the NDC in all the elections the party won?
Was it them who won the Eastern region for the NDC in both 1992 and 1996?
Was it them who win the Greater Accra and Brong Ahafo regions anytime NDC wins the general elections?
Was it the Togolese who always win the three northern regions for the NDC in all the party’s electoral triumphs?
This heightened sense of delusion- this refusal on the part of the NPP to face the naked truth must come to an end.
Both Nkrumah's CPP and Rawlings' NDC did not humiliate the NPP family at the polls because of Togolese or Liberians or aliens from Jupiter.
They did so because they won the hearts and minds of the people of Ghana through their patriotism and dedication to the wellbeing of Ghanaians.
NPP's chronic problem is that they do not have it in their DNA to accept an electoral defeat.
They just cannot come to terms with the fact that they cannot win every election.
Maybe the delusion that Ghana is their property makes it too difficult for them to accept this reality.
When they lost in 1992, it was a stolen verdict.
In 1996, it was a bought verdict.
In 2008, Nana Addo used all shenanigans including the most dastardly attempt to change figures in the strong room of the EC; but for the vigilance and the courage of the NDC in the strong room in that second round, Nana Addo and his NPP will have succeeded to subvert the will of the people.
We have not mentioned their failed efforts, as was captured on tape, to even place dead bodies in water bodies in the Volta region as a way of subverting the will of the people.
After all these evil machinations failed, Nana Addo, true to character, refused to concede and congratulate the winner JEA Mills.
After the 2012 defeat, the NPP went on a violent spree, beating and assaulting innocent citizens at Obra Spot and destroying property.
Then to cover their shame, they went on a face-saving journey to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn the Supreme Will of the people of Ghana.
They just do not have it in their genes to accept defeat.
After all, how can the “ owners of Ghana ” ever lose to parties of aliens and foreigners?
The only time they accept electoral results is when they win.
It is either their way or the highway.
What kind of people are these!
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, the anger of the NPP anytime they lose elections should rather be directed at their own internal campaign inadequacies.
It is only chronic losers who blame others for their losses.
Winners elect to do deep introspection and self-correction, when they lose, rather than direct their venom towards others.
So, instead of being angry against Ewes for daring to deny you, your God given right to rule Ghana, it would be better to do a deep self-examination.
As the great Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living."
Why does the NPP family believe that they are superior Ghanaians and that they have a God given right over the political and economic destiny of Ghana?