Speak truth to Vice-President — Asantehene

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has asked the handlers of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to be truthful to him and not to be moved by their parochial interests.

He said the team should be frank with him if things were not going well so he could restrategise rather than allowing him to go astray. Otumfuo Osei Tutu said the objective should be the collective interest of the team and that of the party which should be able to guide him on his campaign tour.

The Asantehene gave the advice when the Vice-President paid a courtesy call on him at the palace last Wednesday as part of his campaign tour of the region. He encouraged the candidate to continue to explain his policies and ideas to the electorate to get their buy-in and expressed the belief that Ghanaians would vote for him if they were convinced of the message.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said no government would be able to solve all the problems facing the country but each of them would play a part for another to continue. For the Asantehene, Dr Bawumia’s candidature presented him with a unique opportunity to tell Ghanaians what the government had been able to do and what he would add on if elected.

Trust

He said the time had come for him to vindicate the trust President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo reposed in him when he nominated him as his vice. The Asantehene said it was time for him to show that he really learnt under the President and was capable of managing the country when given the mantle.

He wished him well on his campaign tour and about his ambition to lead the country, pledging the prayers and protection of the ancestors for him.

Tax regime

In his address, the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) reiterated his plans to review the tax regime and introduce a flat tax system for easy compliance.

Currently, Dr Bawumia said, traders and businesses had been in a tussle with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) over their taxes and said the system was a bit complicated and made compliance a bit difficult.

Digital skills

The Vice-President said his administration would create about one million jobs for the youth in digital skills such as coding, soft engineering and that, he said, could also absorb those with certificates.

With those skills, he said, the youth would not need to travel to the UK to work but could work in the UK from Ghana, provided they had access to a computer.

“Digital skills, creative arts, sports, tourism are areas I want to invest in for all of us to benefit from,” the Vice-President said, adding that Ghana was well ahead of other countries in the sub-region in digitisation.