President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has brought his leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to an end, after holding the fort for 16 years.
In what many may describe as a roller coaster journey for the Akyem royal, having tried three consecutive times – two with former President Kufuor – and winning after the latter had left,
On Saturday, November 4, 2023 at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, emotions went high when President Akufo-Addo gave his farewell speech and later handed over the mantle to his vice president, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia.
He thanked “every single NPP person” for trusting in him since 2007, in what he described as an honour that he can never forget.
He said, “I want to thank every single NPP person here that for the last 16 years—2007, 2010, 2014 and 2020 – you have conferred your confidence in me to lead this great party, you have honoured me with an honour I can never ever forget, and you have allowed me to serve the party, through the party, to serve the people of Ghana.”
CHALLENGE
As the flagbearer of arguably the largest political party in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo started off with the challenge of convincing the NPP to allow him to choose Dr. Bawumia as his running mate.
Dr Bawumia, who was then the Deputy Governor at the Central Bank, thanks to then President John Agyekum Kufuor, was not politically known and the party perhaps did not want to gamble with their chances, though the NPP had already been in power for eight years.
As fate would have it, he crossed that hurdle, which saw the standing down of some party regulations, to meet the wish of flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo.
Unfortunately, the 2008 elections, the first major test for Akufo-Addo, went in favour of the opposition NDC, a moment that both Akufo-Addo and his then-running mate would bite their fingers over, considering how he brought Bawumia into the picture, despite the strong resistance.
Four years later the party gave Akufo-Addo another mandate, and he once again selected Dr Bawumia as his running mate for the 2012 elections, which turned out to be an obvious victory for the elephant.
After the polls, the NPP went to the Supreme Court to challenge the presidential results. Despite the sterling display of intellect and understanding of the politics of Ghana and its rules by Dr Bawumia, as the principal witness for the petitioner, Nana Akufo-Addo, the Justice William Atuguba-led Supreme Court panel in a 5-4 majority decision affirmed the election of John Mahama.
FORTUNE
In 2016, heaven looked favorably on Akufo-Addo and he won the election convincingly.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who had secured a third opportunity from the party to be the flagbearer, also maintained his confidence in Bawumia.
At this point, the Free Senior High School, One District, One Factory, One Village, One Dam had fallen on the hearts and minds of many Ghanaians.
Garnishing free education was the campaign to digitalize every facet of the nation. The running mate, Dr Bawumia, was championing this course.
Ascending the rein of power after swearing the Presidential and Vice Presidential Oaths respectively, on January 7, 2017 and obtaining convincing majority seats in Parliament, the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government needed to prove its worth.
The first term saw the Ghanaian economy grow at about 6% of GDP; the Free SHS, one district, one factory and several digitalization policies were rolled out.
All these culminated in the NPP securing a second-term victory in 2020, but sadly, it was hit by global crises, which blackened the good fortunes of the government, compelling them to reluctantly seek refuge with the International Monetary Fund.
BEST DONE
In his last address as the leader of the NPP, President Akufo-Addo said he had done his best, but would not want to hand over power to John Dramani Mahama.
As such, he has tasked himself with doing all he can to help the new leader, his vice president, whom he said he has confidence in, to “inflict a third successive defeat on the NDC and John Mahama.
“I have done my best, but I still have one more task to do, and that is, with all my strength and all my energy, to help the new flagbearer, Mahamudu Bawumia, win the election of 2024,” he said.
He explained that the country cannot afford the return of the opposition party, the NDC, under former President John Mahama’s leadership.
President Akufo-Addo said Dr. Bawumia’s “sixteen years of work in opposition and in government has been rewarded by the party with this leadership that has been confirmed upon him.”
