President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged communicators of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to ensure that this year’s election campaign is devoid of gender, religious or ethnic sentiments.
In a virtual meeting with members of the communication team over the weekend, President Akufo-Addo said tribal, religious and gender sentiments will not help the party’s cause.
“We should be looking at all-time records and competencies. The election should be a discussion on competencies,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo will face off with his predecessor, John Dramani Mahama in the December 7 Presidential Election.
Having served a term each in office as President, both candidates will be seeking a second term.
President Akufo-Addo urged the team to focus on the government’s records over the past four years as a trump card to win the December polls.
“We have to be very insistent in looking at the records,” he told the team and entreated them to focus on comparing the records between the current and previous governments.
Another major issue that, according to the President, will be central in determining who wins the next election is the kind of leadership both candidates demonstrated when in office as President.
He said voters will be looking at how both candidates managed various issues in the country, including how they managed crises situations.
In that regard, he said it is imperative for the team to tout the quality of leadership he has demonstrated since he became President in January 2017.
The President believes his development record surpasses his predecessor, noting that, the country’s development under his management has been comprehensive.
According to him, every part of the country has witnessed some level of development since he became President of the country.
He said programmes executed by his administration has served the generality of Ghanaians and entreated his communicators to focus on that.
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that this year’s election will be historic because it is the first time two major candidates going into the election have had opportunities to serve as President.
As a result, he said government communicators should centre their discussion on competencies and comparison of track records and move away from ethnic, tribal, religious, or gender sentiments.
The President touched on allegations that his government has deliberately deployed military personnel in certain parts of the country to prevent people from participating in the voters registration exercise, describing the allegations as a “short term political game” by the opposition.
“This is not a legitimate way of advancing a political agenda,” he said and dismissed the allegations.
BY YAW KYEI