I'll Stand By Supreme Court Ruling - Akufo Addo Tells German Foreign Minister

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has said �like President Mahama�, he will stand by whatever ruling the Supreme Court will make with respect to the election petition challenge currently before them. The NPP leader said Ghana's economy had performed better in the Fourth Republic largely due to a stable democratic environment and it was important, therefore, for everybody to commit to the protection of Ghana's democracy. He was having an interaction with Germany's Foreign Minister, Dr Guido Westerwelle, in Accra on Saturday. The Foreign Minister, who was on a two day visit to Ghana, called on Nana Akufo-Addo to discuss, among others, the electoral petition in the Supreme Court. Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP was happy with the process so far and "we are happy also that the Supreme Court is putting in place measures to ensure the expedition of the process." He explained that the party was not in court to disrupt the country's democracy, assuring that the NPP was committed to a peaceful democratic Ghana. "We did not go to court to destabilise our democracy, but we felt that there were systematic violations of the process which we believe affected the overall outcome of the elections and that is why we have chosen to challenge in the constitutionally designated forum the results as declared by the Electoral Commission." Nana Addo explained. He said the NPP hopes, God willing, to adopt the German economic model of apprenticeship, skills training and development for small and medium scale businesses. He observed that central to that, however, was education and that was why the party had committed to providing free senior high school education for all. "Ghana has enormous potential and prospects and I am confident that with the right leadership, our country will make tremendous progress," he said. Nana Addo said Ghana needed today a structural transformation of her economy from raw material production to value addition. Germany's Foreign Minister, Dr Guido Westerwelle, commended the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2012 presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, for choosing to contest the results of the December 7 polls in the Supreme Court and not inciting his followers and supporters to take up arms. Dr Westerwelle said Ghana continued to shine on the African continent as a growing democracy worth emulating. The two gentlemen also discussed issues concerning ECOWAS with Mali taking centre stage.