“Try me too! “Try me too!! “Try me too!!! – Nana Addo

…..Shouting “Try me too! “Try me too!! “Try me too!!!

With years not on his side, and with hope fading, the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), who turns 73 in a few months, appears visibly overwhelmed, and desperate for the job of leading Ghana as Election Day November 7, 2016, draws closer and closer home.

From Ashanti Region to Western Region, and recently to the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Akufo-Addo’s message to the electorates has been; “Try me too! “Try me too!! “Try me too!!! Suggesting as though, the presidency was an experimental job.

In the Tano South Constituency of the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Addo, appealed to settler communities to give him a chance to lead the country in this year’s general election, adding Ghanaians can kick him out if he fails to turn around the fortunes of the country in four years.

He had made similar requests in the Western Region, where he attended funerals and visited six churches in one Sunday.

At various places in the Western Region, Nana Addo, who sounded very dejected, specifically pleaded with the people of the Western Region to vote for him, saying; “I need your help …I need your help” adding this is the third time I am venturing into the contest.

On one occasion, he particularly asked the Nzema people to vote for him saying, “try me, try me too and see and I know that as long as is God above, I will never disappoint you here in Ghana”.

He begged, “Most importantly, do have believe in me and support me. This is the third time am contesting this position”,

In the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Addo, made the appeal in an address to Muslim clerics and Chiefs of settler communities in Derma, a community in the Tano South Constituency.

The NPP flagbearer, who was accompanied by national and regional party stalwarts, appealed to the communities to consider him for at least one term, and promised them he would not disappoint.

“This year, try me too. Give me the chance to show you what I can do. Four years is not so far away. If I come and I don’t succeed, kick me out. God knows my heart and I can assure you that I won’t disappoint you. Progress and prosperity are what I am offering the people of Ghana.”

He explained that, the NPP, traditionally, had not done well electorally in settler communities across the country, largely because of the deliberate tagging of the NPP as an “anti-Northern” party by political opponents.

Thus, the NPP, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, has now decided to aggressively campaign in all settler communities across the country, so as to dispel this false notion, with barely 8 months to the November elections.

“This talk of the NPP being anti-Northerners is simply not true. When you go into the history books, all the leaders of the tradition, from which the NPP emerged from, are Northerners. The tradition we belong to is called the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition. Dombo hailed from the North. Jato Kaleo, Abaayifa Karbo, Yakubu Tali, B.K Adama, Imoro Salifu, C.K. Tedam, were all Northerners who started our party,” he said.

Nana Akufo-Addo, told the Chiefs that, “this type of anti-NPP sentiments only surfaced during elections,” adding that “when there are no elections, we live in this country peacefully and harmoniously. These are done purely for electoral advantage.”

He, therefore, urged them to ignore this type of politicking, but rather vote for candidates and political parties, whose sole aim in office will be to better the lives of Ghanaians, through the institution of effective policies. To the people of Derma, who are predominantly cocoa and vegetable farmers, Nana Akufo-Addo, urged them to consider the NPP’s track record in the run-up to the November elections.

“When given the choice of NPP and NDC, there is no way that you, as a cocoa farmer, should choose the NDC over the NPP. The NPP is the party that has looked after the welfare of cocoa farmers. It is the NPP, under President Kufuor, that raised cocoa production to levels never witnessed in Ghana’s history. ”

To this end, he urged the electorate to consider the welfare of the nation and of their families, and their conditions of living before casting their ballots on November 7.

“Would you prefer a ‘family member’ who has nothing, but suffering for you, or would you prefer a ‘stranger’ who will bring you prosperity? The NPP, is the party that will bring prosperity to the people of Ghana… We in the NPP, under my leadership, are going to put the country back on the road to prosperity,” he added.

He also made brief stops at Techimantia and Dwomo, all in the Tano South Constituency, urging the electorate to vote for him as President and Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, the NPP’s parliamentary candidate for the Constituency.

He had earlier said in the Western Region, “this year, I am going with you, the Nzemas, I am going with you all through. Western Region, you have an Nzema, as party chairman. National chairman, it is an Nzema, who is leading [the NPP] so I need your help. You have to do all you can to help us win political power”.

He had visited the Bethel Methodist Church in Takoradi, the Dunwell Methodist Church, Assemblies of God, Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Church of Pentecost (Police Station Assembly) and the Presbyterian Church all in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Constituency, pleading with the electorates to believe him and support him wholeheartedly for victory.

Sounding almost dejected, Nana Addo pleaded, “try me, try me too and see and I know that as long as is God above, I will never disappoint you here in Ghana”.

At one of the gatherings he reminded them, “Most importantly, do have believe in me and support me. This is the third time am contesting this position”.