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PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PLATFORM FOR ELECTORAL DIALOGUE (PED) ON 28/11/2012 AT KUKU HILL, OSU. Colleagues and Friends from the media good morning. The Platform for Electoral Dialogue (PED), appreciates your swift response to our invitation despite the short notification. This press conference is about election 2012. It is also about the future of Ghana. It is about you! A Ghana that is educated, industrialized, modernized and can provide a dignified life for all her people. Quality leadership more than anything else, is what Ghana requires to lift its people from poverty. Quality leadership matters in the December 7 elections. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Following a critical assessment of all the personalities, who have offered themselves for this year�s election, it is PED�s considered opinion, based on available public record, that the NDC�s John Dramani Mahama is the only candidate who has shown beyond all reasonable doubt that he truly appreciates the challenges confronting Ghana and has the needed leadership competence to effectively address these daunting but surmountable challenges. It is no secret that John Mahama is a man who combines relevant professional training and political experience with a track record of solid governance achievements. He is a man of strong moral value, he is humble, peaceful, and respects for others, regardless of their social, religious, political and ethnic background. These are qualities that Ghanaians do not compromise on when choosing who they want to lead them. Indeed, having been raised as an ordinary Damango village boy through the dint of hard work to become the most successful politician of our time, we see in him a role model for our children and the generation after us. John Mahama holds a post graduate degree in Social Psychology from the Institute of Social Sciences, Moscow, having earlier obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies and a degree in history at the University of Ghana after his secondary education in Achimota School and Ghana Secondary School in Tamale. President Mahama�s indepth knowledge of our country�s history, his ability to communicate effectively to persons of all backgrounds and his ability to understand people and relate with them successfully are relevant traits for modern leadership gotten from his education. Despite his youthful personality, President John Dramani Mahama has a rich political experience that spans decades. Indeed he is the most experienced politician contesting for the presidency. We must remember that having began his life as a teacher, he rose to become the Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra between 1991 and 1995 and subsequently worked as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager with Plan Ghana between 1995 and 1996. For 12 years, he was an honourable member of Ghana�s parliament through the Bole-Bamboi Constituency in the Northern region of the country and distinguished himself as such. He is a former NDC Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications, a former member of the Pan-African Parliament and served as the Chairperson of the West African Caucus. Again, he is a former member of the European and Pan African Parliaments' Ad-hoc Committee, Minority Spokesman for Foreign Affairs and a member of the UNDP Advisory Committee on Conflict Resolution in Ghana. He is a man of immense experience in Ghana�s legislature. In the current political contest, he is the only personality who has the experience of a Parliamentarian, deputy minister, and minister of state, vice president and now the president of our dear country. He has indeed risen through the ranks as we all can attest to. As if that was not enough, President Mahama has served as chairman of the National Communication Authority, Deputy Chairman of the Publicity Committee on re-introduction of VAT, Chairman of the Economic Management Team, Chairman of The Armed Forces Council, Chairman of the Police Council and Chairman of Decentralization Committee. He was a member of the NDC�s government that introduced VAT, GETfund, District Assemblies� Common Fund, the Road Fund, the EDIF, the Energy Fund and created 110 districts for the local administration of Ghana. Additionally, John Dramani Mahamah was an integral part of the NDC government which expanded electricity to the Northern parts of Ghana, reconstructed the entire Kumasi city roads, Sekondi-Takoradi city roads and Accra city roads. In Accra, these included the six-lane dual carriage road leading to the four-lane dual carriage road from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to the Independence Avenue. Constructed the Kumasi-Sunyani asphalt road; the Kintampo-Tamale-Bolgatanga-Paga Faso asphalt road; and the double surfacing bitumen Bibiani-Ahwiaso-Sefwi Wiawso road. He assisted in the establishing the University for Development Studies, Constructed the modern regional hospitals at Cape Coast, Ho and Sunyani and the housing projects completd at Adenta, Sakumono, Lashibi, and on the Spintex, including SSNIT Estates all over the country. He was an integral part of the NDC government which constructed 6,321 pre-schools, 12,335 primary school, 6,414 Junior Secondary School, 263 Senior Secondary School, 110 Science Resource Centers, & 7 Polytechncs and 3 public universities. Indeed there is no single presidential candidate in the current political contest who can demonstrate a solid track record of governance achievement as John Dramani Mahama. Today under the Better Ghana agenda, John Mahama under the Prof Mills led NDC administration achieved a single digit inflation for 28 months, moved the economy of Ghana from a GDP growth rate of 8.4% in 2008 to 14.4 in 2011, increase tax revenue from 13.9% in 2008 to 19.7% in 2011, increase gross international reserve of the bank of Ghana from 1.8 month import cover in 2008 to 3.8 import cover in 2010, 1 million tonnage of cocoa production, implemented Single Spine pay policy, established a ten million Ghc entrepreneurial fund, dedicated 1% of GDP into science and research, set up the media development fund, the creative industry fund, and has commenced the setting up of a gas plant in tokoradi. Additionally, he has championed the removal of 40% of schools under trees, introduced the science and maths scholarship, distributed tens of thousands of laptops promised by the NDC in 2008, free exercise books, free uniforms to Ghanaian children, built two public universities, among others. The list is long. President MAHAMA in recent times has convinced all Ghanaians that he is a leader we can trust in times of great challenges. Recently his handling of the Melcom disaster, the death of a sitting president Prof Mills, may his soul rest in peace, and a former vice president made all Ghanaians both home and abroad extremely proud. His recent appointment of his vice, his policy statement within the first forty days as president, inauguration of the sanitation task force, appointing a private sector monitoring team, his exceptionally confident speech at the UN general assembly and his decision to avail himself for the IEA debate, making him the only president to have done so, have amply demonstrated his openess and leadership qualities. He is indeed proving that he can and is working for all Ghanaians. I am therefore urging Ghanaians to go the polls on December 7th and vote for a man who has been trained to understand people. Let's vote for a man we can identify with and relate to, a man of peace( asomdwe hene) an ordinary Ghanaian who through hard work has gotten to the top. Comrades, compatriots, ladies and gentlemen, let's vote for a man with relevant political leadership experience. Let's vote for a man who has excellent track record of achievement in government and restrains from violent and provocative speech. Above all we must vote for peace, humility, non-violence and the unity of our country. These traits are personified in John Dramani MAHAMA. The UNIFIER! Platform for Electoral Dialogue(PED) Akyena Brantuo Benjamin [email protected]