Statement by NPP at the Northern Regional Consultative Forum

1 STATEMENT BY THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP) Delivered by Kwadwo Afari Date: 17th September 2015 Venue: Modern City Hotel, Tamale ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mr. Chairman, My Honourable Chief, Ladies and Gentlemen; I am privileged to be here today. My name is Kwadwo Afari, from the NPP. The first two gentlemen who spoke here, the honourable Chairman and the Regional Minister talked about the problems we face in this country and the need for us to be able to plan ahead for the next 40 years. But before we move to plan for the even the next four years, where are we as a nation? Among the many problems that we face as a nation is what I will call economic stagnation, mass unemployment and a government that is steeped high in debt. That is the problem we face today. The sad thing is while we identify the problems, in reality we spend a lot of time discussing how the problem can be solved by the government. This is what I call “then a miracle happens moment” because we believe that we have the problems but when we pray to God and when we ask our politicians, they can solve our problems for us, that when they are elected or appointed to office, then they miraculously become more patriotic, more knowledgeable than those of you sitting down there and all of us citizens of this country. Ghana is in desperate need of change but we believe that any plan that is rooted in the belief that frivolous spending and deeper borrowing from abroad can help the economy is a lie. To get out of our economic problems and to develop the long term, we believe that we have to give people the chance to be part of the solutions that we offer this nation and we believe the numerous problems that the regional chairman is talking about can be solved when the laws of this country are working. If they are working properly, we can solve the indiscipline, we can solve the arrogance of political politicians and their appointees. It is only in this country that a politician stands up and ask you, do you know me and who I am? The arrogance of power! If the law is working, politicians would be bound to do the right thing. As we went round, we heard the chiefs saying that give us back our land. It’s not only the chiefs who need their land, the people also need title to their land and property. That is the only way we can solve the problem of poverty among REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON THE LONG-TERM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Statement by the NPP ©NDPC, 17th September 2015

2 our farmers; because they don’t have title to their properties, they can’t get loans to do their farming. The economy must be free. We believe in development in freedom, when the people are free, their talent emerges. We have shown over the years that the people are capable of creating wealth for themselves. This should be the plan for the next 40 years. Thank you.

REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON THE LONG-TERM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Statement by the NPP ©NDPC, 17th September 2015