Change Has Come: Asabee Reveals ''Why I Want To Be President''

I welcome you to my maiden press briefing on this complex journey that God is taking me, to the Presidency. So far I have completed the whole country, region-by-region meeting regional executives and constituency chairmen in smaller groupings, and have followed it up with a one-on-one personal interactive sessions in seven regions. On this special relationship-cementing round, I have completed 179 constituencies.

The distances I have traveled are long, the terrains covered are rugged, the challenges my team have faced are enormous, yet the task ahead is great and the resources needed are huge. As for the strength needed for the task ahead one cannot imagine. In all these however, I have a God who is faithful and trustworthy and continue to be with me until total and final victory is won. I have also been privileged to have men and women of goodwill who give me good counseling, moral and financial support as well as honest and constructive criticisms as I travel on my rounds. I am also blessed with the best human resource in the team around me with my beautiful wife giving me the eagle-eye view of everything. These and many other countless happenings and opportunities are Divinely designed for my success and that of my party in this noble enterprise ahead.

On my rounds I came across young men and women who are showing desperation in search of jobs and struggling to survive. There are many, many mothers and our womenfolk who are struggling to feed and care for their children. I saw traders, fishermen, farmers, businessmen and women, construction workers, indeed Ghanaians of goodwill desiring to make ends meet but who are being frustrated by the policies and directions of government. Instead of the state authorities doing something to alleviate their plight, you will find obstacles put in the way of ordinarily Ghanaians everywhere (Kumasi round about, serious traffic jam on the Tema motorway, Cedi depreciation, etc.).

Interestingly, I was glad to come across young men and women, especially throng church services across the country in joyful praises and songs to God (meaning there is hope).

Another sad observation is the way and manner our environment is being destroyed. Our large water bodies that should be the source of our sustenance and development have been polluted, our primary rain forest is all but disappeared, large tracks of land that should have been cultivated to feed us are being leveled to make way for the building of estates, some of them ignoring land use guidelines. As for the issue of sanitation, the least said the better.

Our road network across the country requires urgent attention. Traveling from Dambai through Chinderi, Damanko to Kpasa one wonders whether we do not consider those areas as part of the country. I came across school children being ferried in canoes on the Volta river to school. At Kasawurape, near Original Kabache in the Salaga district, I came across a SADA Aforestation Site that presented me with a clear indication that the NDC government has a misplaced priority, to say the least.

My campaign rounds have lit the fire of refreshing change and it is rolling down like a snowball across the country. Everywhere I go the sound of Asabee...We Go Do is resonating, bringing hope and inspiration to our youth, mothers, traditional authorities, religious groups and communities looking for much needed change.

REFRESHING CHANGE

Asabee's flagbearership will put God in the centre of our activities. Refreshing Change is coming. Let every corner in Ghana, Africa and wherever our decendants find themselves know that the promise of God to His people is alive (Deuteronomy 4:31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fore-fathers, which he confirmed to them by oath).

This is the hope that God gave to us on the eve of our independence and to which I humbly bring to you, and that is: "Refreshing Change is coming".

I believe a true and genuine United Party machinery will be a prerequisite towards victory. I will lead by showing respect to my colleague contestants. I will not do, say or show anything that will disrespect anyone. I will also ensure that anyone who campaigns or goes around in my name follows my leadership example, and anyone who fails to observe this principle will attract appropriate sanctions. Teamwork will be our catchphrase, and we will be each other's keeper.

Humility in character, deed and approach
Mine will be grassroot campaigning, in the first instance, to convince the rank and file of the party about:

my affable human nature and negotiating skills that break barriers( Asabee is a household name ), will greatly enhance the party's ability to mobilize funds from unconventional sources, and also to garner sufficient votes for the presidency and our parliamentary candidates. These advantages will also assist in the party's working relationships with the EC and other stakeholders, including minority parties.

my rural background and upliftment by the Grace of God and, through education and goodwill of others, to be who I am today. Asabee - one of your own, a living symbol of hope for young people.

my service to local communities as a Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment; Tourism and Diaspora Relations; and that of Information and National Orientation. My physical presence and developments in their communities are evidence of a leader who knows their conditions and will utilise resources to bring refreshing change to them.

my humble and excellent working relationship with everyone, including the media.

my organisational skills, hardworking and courageous spirit that will be imparted through training to our grassroot party members to overcome any vote buying and other negative electoral techniques.

my worldwide experiences that can be utilised to bring assistance from abroad.

HUNGRY FOR POWER
ORGANISATIONAL DISCIPLINE
There will be a military-type of discipline with decentralised resource utilisation to ensure total victory in the 2016 general elections.

ØI value people and will create a culture that allows mutually beneficial achievements of the party, the nation and personal goals.

ØThere will be vibrancy, innovative and creative methods running through our campaign. Special attention will be paid to the youth and mothers to enable them work hard to bring a government that looks to their future welfare and prosperity.

ØA strategic plan will be put together that will involve the executives of the party at all levels, and allow them to spearhead the campaign with a skeletal Flagbearer team with specific roles.

ØConstituency Chairpersons will automatically become campaign managers, taking charge of logistics and other resources together with their executives down to the polling station executives.

ØBuild a confident and well-resourced grassroot party base that prioritises loyalty and commitment to duty for the party's cause, knowing that the party and consequently, the government belongs to them.

ØAppointments in government will be done with full party executives' involvement and hardworking members would be duly rewarded.

ØAsabee's leadership will serve the party not the other way round. I will care for, communicate and recognise in a way that motivates our people, building commitment and loyalty to our course.

HARDWORKING ETHICS
ØThe campaign will be a non-stop grassroots work, meeting, listening and sharing ideas with party members and Ghanaians at polling stations and electoral areas.

ØThere will be one-on-one direct interactions with the grassroots to bring leadership closer to them and breaking barriers to enhance understanding and ownership of the campaign.

ØAsabee will lead from the front where attention is paid to details, and will inculcate a "Can Do" spirit and attitude in the rank and file of the party. The party's energies will be channeled to:

a. Helping one another in building strong structural bonds; visiting and caring for each other.

b. Taking our refreshing change message in a house-to-house campaign to all Ghanaians, particularly our rural folks. We will engage the NDC propagandists in the farmland, in the canoes on the seas, lakes and our beaches, in our churches and mosques, in the drinking spots, in our market places, on the airwaves, in schools, on football pitches and even under the mango and acacia trees.

Indeed wherever the Ghanaian is found, we will be there carrying our message of Refreshing Change to the people. We will prepare and move. I carry one message to our grassroots; Don't sit down waiting for anyone. I say, Just Do It!!! Do it well and different, and with a good heart and a good mind for the refreshing change to happen in peoples' lives.

c. Undertaking voluntary activities in our communities to demonstrate our "can do" attitude in helping overcome our environmental problems in our communities across the country.

EXPERIENCED AND ENTERPRISING LEADER

My early involvement in political activism from 1977 anti-UNIGOV, POYA, NUGS, 1982 to 1992 anti-revolutionary period, British politics, founding member of nucleus of NPP, to becoming an MP and a Cabinet Minister has a provided me with skills and experience to benefit all, such as:

a. a long standing public service experience, that assures the party and the nation of a Refreshing Leader with experience and a safe pair of hands. I have private sector business experience both in Ghana and abroad that will be invaluable in handling the nation's economy under "Good Housekeeping" ideas.

b. a bold leader, who will initiate a 15-year Development Plan that will seek to modernise and add value to agriculture; put premium on rapid mass transport network with emphasis on rail-road linkages; ensure telecommunication and energy infrastructure development; pursue an integrated mining and manufacturing industrial growth with strong indigenous presence and; introduce a new development plan to be called Volta-Oti Basin Development Plan, among others.

c. an enterprising and creative leader who will focus on an increased investment in human capital development, paying special attention to youth development, training and opportunities for decent and well-paid jobs

b. a caring leader who will pay attention to our mothers and their young children in their health care, and quality education for their children.

c. a life-long experience of God-fearing active Christian life, survival instincts that pull one from poverty surroundings; disciplinary ethics; and courageous life stories to send refreshing change message to the people. My personal and learning experiences, faith and message of hope convinces me that Ghanaians can pull out of these difficult times into true prosperity that will reflect in our lives.

In conclusion, I bring on to the internal contest and the general elections campaign, the ever-popular ASABEE - Affable, Simple, Accessible, Bold, Enterprising and a man of Excellence

a good heart and good mind immersed in the God-fearing training given to me by my parents. My campaign will be anchored on the principles, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets". I will therefore be focused on my message of bringing Refreshing Change in the party and the country as a whole and not get distracted. My number one priority in this contest is to foster Unity and work in such a manner that the party will remain one solid organisation ready to go into the 2016 general elections to win power.

The campaign team that I lead will be disciplined in our choice of words both in private and public in presenting our message of bringing Refreshing Change. I will lead an NPP campaign that will listen and accommodate every shade of opinion from party members and sympathizers to, greatly, enhance our chances of winning the 2016 general elections.

a sense of purpose for Ghanaians to trust the NPP, - that we are ready for government once again.

Grassroots politics that will have a mass appeal to our numerous frustrated citizens who are looking for a true leader who is in-tune with the masses; a leader who has the humility to relate and empathise with everyone; a leader who will pursue programmes and policies that are actionable and can be felt in their lives in the short, medium and long-terms.

A vibrant, dynamic and creative campaigning towards the 2016 general elections that will get every party member to go and win extra votes for our cause. The NPP will find renewed energy that will re-vibrate in every corner of this country; a brighter future of education and jobs to the Ghanaian youth, bring comfort of good health and welfare to our hardworking mothers, and peace of mind and happiness to our elderly to enjoy decent lives in their old age.

Hardwork, tenacity and a "can do" attitude that will be the hallmark of NPP campaign. I will be strengthened by drawing on my own life-long experiences, both successful and not so successful ones, in the drive towards total victory at the polls.

Winning strategic plan and actions that strengthen linkages between my skeletal team and party structures, especially at the constituency level ensuring the party wrestle more parliamentary seats. The party executives will be in charge of the campaign and not run from the flagbearer's office. The party will explore avenues of having working relationships with like-minded minority parties.

Ministerial experience and worldwide acquired knowledge and relationships that will be brought to bear, positively, on our political, social and economic developments.

Ability to raise sufficient financial and other resources to ensure smooth general election campaign that brings success and victory at the polls.

Mine will not be your usual party political campaign, it will be a living testimony of God's faithfulness to his people. Our finest hours as a nation will not be a refrain of "the good old days" anymore. God has a new plan for Ghana and our finest hours are surely before us. We must, together, go for it.

Better Ghana is not good enough. The Best is yet to come through Refreshing Change!!!!

ASABEE..WE GO DO! NPP..WE GO DO! OSONO..WE GO DO!

Stephen Asamoah Boateng For President