President Akufo-Addo promises free, fair elections

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians that the upcoming electioneering and the subsequent elections will be conducted in a free, fair and credible manner.

“This year, I am determined to do whatever I can to consolidate that reputation as a country of peace and stability where elections are held in a good atmosphere and the results easily acceptable by all and sundry, winners and losers alike,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance at the Jubilee House when the President of the Ziavi Traditional Council, Togbe Kwaku Ayim IV, led a delegation of the chiefs and the elders of the area to thank the President for the creation and inauguration of the Ziavi Traditional Area.

He noted that his government would do whatever it took to make sure that the forthcoming campaigning and elections were conducted in a good atmosphere, to confirm Ghana as the beacon of democracy on the African continent.

He said it was free, fair and credible elections that brought him to office, and that it was his duty to ensure that the next elections were conducted in the same manner, adding: “The battle is still the Lord’s.

That is the basis on which we will go forward, praying to God Almighty that He will make it possible for Four More for Nana.”

ADR

The President described as an excellent suggestion a proposal by Togbe Ayim that the government organised training for chiefs in the country on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to curb the rampant and long-standing chieftaincy disputes in the country.

He directed the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, who was at the meeting, to take up the suggestion to ensure that chiefs were offered the training.

Coffee

Regarding the request for the establishment of a factory under the 1D1F initiative in the area to expand the production and sale of Ziavitutui, a local product made with coffee which had been on sale for years, the President said he was sympathetic to the idea and that the government would initiate moves to realise that vision.

He said coffee was one of the crops which fell under the Tree Crops Authority, and that being a crop that could generate revenue for the country, the government would work on it.

He added that the district assembly and the Ministry of Trade and Industry would be brought in to work on it.

Commendation

Togbe Ayim commended the President for granting the area a traditional council status, which was duly inaugurated on November 22, 2018.

He was grateful to the President for ensuring that work began on the Ziavi-Klefe road two weeks ago, after decades of being in comatose, and appealed for the construction of some of the major roads in the area.

He urged the President to ensure that the government absorbed the Ziavi Community Senior High/Technical School, built by the community, into the public school system to benefit from the free senior high school programme.

The chiefs and the people presented the President with a citation for his work as a human rights advocate, freedom fighter and champion of the under privileged.

They also presented to him bottles of Ziavitutui.