Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has to rise above pettiness, rancour, selfishness, greed and other associated intra-party vices before the party could ‘break the 8’.
According to him, it’s one thing saying the party shall break the eight and another thing actually breaking the eight.
He spoke at the regional seminar of the Tertiary Students Confederacy of the NPP (TESCON) at the University of Cape Coast on Saturday.
Dr Bawumia said he was sure the students and lecturers at the function were not dreaming that breaking the eight mantra would end up as one of the platitudes of politics.
He said it rather calls for a united party that raises things that militate against the progress of the country and the party.
The Vice President said the government was confident of its achievement and in 2024 that would make them ‘break the 8’.
The Vice-President was convinced that if the Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration is able to build on its solid foundation, complete all initiated projects and execute the 2020 manifesto pledges, Ghanaians will give them the opportunity to continue to be in power beyond 2024.
He further assured the country, the NPP government would deliver to make breaking the eight possible: “I bring you the assurances of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo that we will do our best not to disappoint Ghanaians and you, our gallant soldiers.”
Explaining the appointments made by the President since his assumption of office, the Vice-President noted: “We are aware of the appointments of Nana Addo that have gone to the youth and TESCON members during the previous term and this term.
“What this means is that, as we continue to work hard and hold on to power, the benefit that would accrue to Ghana and by extension to all of us would be enormous, and this is why it is important for us to break the 8.”
He reiterated that the government was committed to ensuring that they built an efficient public sector, support the growth of the private sector as a source of job creation, fight bribery and corruption, and build a future for the youth and the next generation.
“We are committed to expanding their opportunities for the fast-emerging world of technological and digital innovation. I am proud that over the last years, we have set free Wifis to 722 Senior High Schools, 13 universities, 46 colleges of education and 216 district education offices,” he added.
Dr Bawumia further listed several problems, which the government has fixed or is fixing, to demonstrate its ability to overcome the present challenges. Among them were social intervention programmes to reduce the suffering of citizens, positive economic indicators, job creation, and digitisation of the economy to make things easy for the people.