By Frank Amponsah
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said since his Government took office, some two years ago, she had restored discipline in the management of the economy, and the countryhas become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
According to him his government was able to guarantee entry to education to all school-going children up to a minimum of Senior High School, and has strengthened access to healthcare for all.
The President made these remarks when he addressed the International Luncheon of the National Prayer Breakfast in Washinton DC.
According President Akufo Addo, Ghana is becoming self-sufficient and that “We are becoming increasingly self-sufficient in the production of food, and, as opposed to the difficulties of recent years, we are now exporting food to our neighbouring countries in West Africa. Ghana, today, has become the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in West Africa, with some of the world’s largest automobile manufacturing companies deciding to establish assembly and manufacturing plants in Ghana.”
He said: “I am hopeful that, in the coming years, and to paraphrase the words of Hanani the Seer, in 2nd Chronicles chapter 16, God will continue to show Himself strong on behalf of a country whose heart is fully devoted to Him.”
He expressed appreciation to the churches for their role in the development of the country and averred that with 71% of the Ghanaian population being Christians, the churches have rendered to the Ghanaian people invaluable assistance principally in education, health and agriculture.
“Since independence, God has blessed our nation by sparing us the horrors of civil war that have afflicted virtually all of our neighbours. It is in recognition of these blessings and in order to redeem a personal pledge that I made to Him prior to the 2016 election, that I have decided to build an interdenominational National Cathedral of Ghana to His glory and honour. It will serve as a fulcrum for propagating the Christian faith and unifying the Christian community,”he said.
Applauding America for the sacrifices of her heroic defence of freedom in the 20th century, and also recalling in this “Year of Return”, which commemorates the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first West African slave in the Commonwealth of Virginia, her tragic role in some of the most destructive episodes of human history – the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas, he said they intended to use the symbolism of this “Year of Return” to bring together Africans, persons of African descent, and all well-wishers and lovers of freedom to strengthen the commitment to ensuring that they never reoccur.
“We should, in our prayers on this occasion, make a special intercession for God’s blessings on the souls of the hapless victims, and for His forgiveness for the perpetrators of these heinous crimes,” he said.
He also stated that As a Christian, his own life’s journey has been a testimony of God’s love, and a vindication of the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 19 verse 26, which says “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.
“Some of you may know that I sought the highest office of the land on three occasions, being successful on the third. Between 2008 to 2016, if any of you had had the opportunity to visit Ghana, you would have certainly heard catchy phrases like “Akufo-Addo cannot be President”, “God does not want Akufo-Addo to be President”, “Akufo-Addo is short, and does not have the stature to be President.”
“Perhaps, if you lost your first election by some forty thousand votes in a poll of some ten million voters, as I did in 2008, and lost your second election after a controversial decision by the Supreme Court four years later, as I did, you would be tempted to believe that these comments had some merit. However, my faith in God would not let me give up. At my third attempt, I committed the election campaign to God, and indicated to the Ghanaian people that “The Battle is the Lord’s”. By God’s grace, I won a famous victory against an incumbent President in the 2016 election by a gap of some one million votes, the largest margin of victory for two decades.”
He said he wants Ghana to be on God’s side, “I want Ghana to be on God’s side, and we will be an example to the black peoples of the world of what a free, dedicated, innovative people, who believe and trust in God, can do to build a nation the equal of any, anywhere on the face of the planet.”
