Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo Now Deserves To be Taken Seriously - Since He Promises To Publicly Publish His Assets

The recent undertaking given by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, that he will publicly publish his assets before assuming the presidency, if elected, deserves our respect. He must be congratulated for so deciding.

For discerning minds, however, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate must go further, if his undertaking is to affect the way they cast their votes, in the 2016 presidential election.

To begin with, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo ought to agree to publicly publish his wife's assets, too, when he does his.

And he must also give Ghanaians a solemn undertaking that that will be a condition all his public-sector appointees must also meet, in order to be given the privilege to serve Mother Ghana, under his regime.

The fact of the matter, is that many patriotic Ghanaians have not forgotten that President Kufuor also promised to publicly declare his assets, and those of his dear wife, at a speech he delivered at the Independence Square - shortly after his inauguration as President in 2001: but, alas, failed to honour it.

 In the end, he and his favourites among the members of his extended family clan, and his circle of friends, exploited his presidency in ruthless fashion, for personal gain, as they set about sending their net worth to stratospheric heights - in tunnel-vision fashion seldom seen before in Ghana's chequered history.

As we all know, they prospered mightily, during the golden age of business, for  Kufuor & Co.

Well, perhaps in his case, we can trust Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo never to rip Mother Ghana off, too, when he becomes President - but as a people we would be big fools to assume that that will also be the case for all his family and friends.

The plain truth, is that our homeland Ghana will not survive another set of greedy hypocrites, operating with impunity, from the heart of the presidency - to enrich themselves at Ghana's expense.

It is for precisely that reason that all patriotic Ghanaians must demand that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, also gives the good people of Ghana, a solemn undertaking that publicly publishing the assets of appointees, and their spouses, before assuming office, and at the end of their individual tenures, will be a pre-condition for all the public-sector appointments he makes.

Above all, since Freddie Blay - who is a powerful presence in the NPP - has already made it absolutely clear that as far as he is concerned, no public publishing of assets will occur under an NPP administration, headed by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the NPP's presidential candidate for the 2016 election would be wise to promise Ghanaians that as long as Blay and others of his ilk, maintain that perfidious stand, they will not serve in any capacity in an Akufo-Addo administration.

To show that he will be an anti-corruption crusader, who will zealously protect the public purse at all material times, as President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo ought to demand that all the leading lights of the NPP, should publicly publish their filed tax returns for the last 8 years, before the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections take place.

If entrenched, the public declaration of assets by public officials, will discourage the self-seeker-types from venturing into politics in Ghana - which will help lessen the incidence of high-level corruption.

That is why the point now needs to be made that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo deserves our respect -  since he has promised to publicly publish his assets before assuming the presidency.

(It is such a pity that since he assumed office, as a result of the baleful influence of the crooks-in-high-places amongst those who surround him, President Mahama has always ignored those of us who have consistently advised him, in our writing, to publicly publish the assets of both himself and his wife - to enable him occupy the moral high ground in Ghanaian politics. Subsequent events have proven that it is the crooks-in-high-places who were the real fools - not us. Pity.)

Indeed, by promising to publicly publish his assets, whatever his shortcomings, one would go as far as saying that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo deserves to be taken seriously, by all Ghanaians.

  Post Script

Incidentally, to maintain continued respect for him, amongst the discerning in Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo must also go ahead and rid the NPP of its tall list of party big-shots resorting to Kweku-Ananse-accounting-principles - to enable them play fast and loose with money that is not theirs. Impunity for such rogues won't bode well for an Akufo-Addo presidency. That was the undoing of President Mills. Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo must never forget that.