My party stands good chance of winning 2024 elections – President Akufo-Addo declares in USA

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has a good chance to win the 2024 general elections.

Speaking at an event on Governance and Peace, organised in his honour by the United States Institute of Peace ( USIP) in Washington D.C., United States of America on Thursday, October 12, 2023, the President said, “I’m not here to blow the trumpet of my party’s new candidate but we have a good chance to be able to survive that experience.”

President Akufo-Addo addressed the gathering on the topic, “ Democracy and Security in West Africa”.
He was also engaged in a conversation on Ghana’s democratic credentials and the country’s critical role as a regional leader in promoting peace, stability and sustainable development.

Democratic strength
Ghana stands out as a bastion of democracy in the West African region, where nearly 150 million people are today under the rule of armed forces.

Violent extremism is also a major challenge facing the region, with affiliates of the Islamic State, among other terrorist groups, taking root.

But Ghana stands in stark contrast to these dire trends, playing a critical role in promoting regional peace and economic development.

President Akufo-Addo’s visit to Washington, is therefore expected to see the United States elevate its partnership with Ghana, which has burnished its brand as a strong democracy surrounded by political instability.

Talking about the foundations of Ghana’s democratic strength vis-a-vis the backsliding of democratic credentials in West Africa, the President said Ghanaians have a strong attachment to institutions of democratic governance.
“Ghanaians recognise the need to effect change in governance, if they so wish, through democratic elections,” he said.

This, he said, has shown on three occasions in the 4th Republic, when opposition parties have won elections.

Terrorism threat
The President emphasised that one of the greatest threats to Africa’s democracy is the proliferation and sophistication of terrorist networks on the continent.

“They should not only be a source of great concern to the continent of Africa, but they should also be of concern to the rest of the world,” he stated.

Even more concerning, he noted, is the fact that these terrorist groups are evolving by the day, as they scramble to control more territories and natural resources, especially in peripheral communities where the lack of effective state presence and control creates conditions for penetration and, ultimately, radicalisation.

Global effort
President Akufo-Addo said the fight against terrorism has to be a global one. “We must pool our resources together to confront a common enemy. “The resources dedicated to counter terrorism have to match the resources available to the terrorist groups,” he submitted.

President Akufo-Addo said the menace caused by terrorism is such that “we must share the burden of the fight to be able to incapacitate the terrorists.“

Failure to do so, he said, leaves the entire world in danger of a spillover effect of terrorism and violent extremism.
“This is the time for a global coalition of democracies, a coalition of the willing, determined to banish the spectre of terrorism and violent extremism,” he said.