My brothers and sisters,
On Monday, we will launch our manifesto for 2020.
Let me take this opportunity to offer some personal reflections on the political substance of this manifesto.
You offered me the humbling chance to serve you from the highest offices in Ghana – first as Vice-President, for four years, and then as President for another four years. For this, I will forever be grateful, and I will fight for your wellbeing, for your hopes and for your rights with all my strength for the rest of my life.
But since I have already been there, why run again? I know many of you ask this question – sometimes openly, sometimes in silence. Why run again? It is a fair question, and it deserves a fair, personal answer.
In a sense, our manifesto will provide the answer, but it will be a collective answer, coming from all the fabulous NDC members and supporters, men and women, who participated in its formulation.
In all honesty, I didn’t take the decision to run for a second term as President neither easily, nor quickly. I didn’t jump into it. I did it out of a sense of urgency, after I began to contemplate more and more thoroughly about our vulnerabilities as a nation.
No country can aspire to become developed; no society can be truly resilient in the face of crisis and adversity without a solid economic and social infrastructure.
To create sustainable and ever-growing prosperity – something we all deserve – it requires building a robust social and economic infrastructure, one that supports creativity, innovation and the production of high value-added products and services.
This is precisely why, during my Presidency, I took aggressive steps to develop and consolidate our healthcare infrastructure, our educational infrastructure, our transport infrastructure and our digital infrastructure. This is the only way to build a resilient nation. Without creating and consolidating a developed infrastructure, no nation can resist global shocks.
Unfortunately, this current government has refused to continue on this path and therefore failed to make our nation less vulnerable and more resilient.
Let me give you just one example: access to electricity. In 2012, 69.2% of Ghanaians had access to electricity. In 2016, when I left office after my first term as President, 79.3% of Ghanaians had access to electricity. A 10 percentage points increase in 4 years. When I left the office, I was confident that a new government will deliver 90%, if not 100% access to electricity in the next four years.
However, the NPP government increased overall access to electricity from 79.3% to only 82.3%, a mere 3 percentage points increase.
It is our sacred mission to turn Ghana into an advanced nation as soon as possible! It is our moral obligation to be bold and to aim for greatness!
“Good enough” is no longer good enough! To prosper and thrive, we need fundamental change! We need to set our standards and expectations far higher than “good enough”! If we settle for “good enough”, we settle for a slow death of our very soul and of our pride.
I run for President because I want to leave a legacy: a solid infrastructure, with 100% access for all. With this legacy, we will build a truly developed Ghana, on a par with the advanced nations.
I know how to do it, part of it I’ve already accomplished, and since I know how to do it and the current government doesn’t, I feel I have the moral duty to ask for a second term. This is not about me, it’s about Ghana and Ghanaians.
This is what Monday’s manifesto is about.
This is why I encourage all of you to watch the launch ceremony.
God bless Ghana! God bless each and every one of you!