AMBASSADOR CALLS ON AKUFO-ADDO

UNCLAS ACCRA 001383 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION DEPT FOR AF/W E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CALLS ON AKUFO-ADDO REF: ACCRA 1360 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ambassador called on Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP),to underline USG's expectation for free and fair elections in Ghana. Akufo-Addo assured Ambassador that the NPP was a party steeped in democratic principles, adding quickly that it was the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that presented the real threat to Ghana's fledgling and fragile democracy. As he had done during his meeting with NDC candidate Atta-Mills (reftel),Ambassador told Akufo-Addo that the Ghanaian people expected and deserved an election whose results they could trust, with a clear verdict that did not call for power-sharing or send partisans out on the streets. He stressed that any challenges or irregularities to election results needed to be resolved in the judicial system, with the loser accepting the will of the electorate and the winner remaining magnanimous in victory. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador met with the NPP flag-bearer Nana Akufo-Addo October 23 at the candidate's residence in an upscale suburb of Accra. He explained that he was meeting with all major party candidates, and emphasized U.S. neutrality in the upcoming election and the importance of continuing the strong bilateral relationship that the two countries enjoyed. When the Ambassador noted that both countries were holding elections and attempted to draw other parallels between the nations' democratic traditions, Akufo-Addo took exception, saying that the difference was that democracy in the United States was well entrenched, while Ghana's political history since independence had been marred by long periods of turmoil, coups, and military authoritarianism. In a clear reference to former president Jerry Rawlings, Akfuo-Addo maintained that elements within the NDC still did not embrace democratic concepts and presented a lurking danger to the progress and stability that his party had brought to Ghana. ¶3. (SBU) Akufo-Addo also seized on Ambassador's statement that the election should produce definitive results leading to a peaceful outcome because the political situation in Ghana was far different than that which existed in Zimbabwe and Kenya. He agreed that that was indeed the case, and rhetorically questioned why the opposition continued to raise the specter of those two countries in the public mind unless it had mischief up its sleeve. ¶4. (SBU) When Ambassador asked Akufo-Addo for the provenance of references he had made to independent polls showing the NPP well ahead and easily claiming victory on the first ballot, the NPP candidate was unable to specifically cite any polls other than a survey done by Ghana's Bureau of National Investigation several months ago. (NOTE: This poll did not in fact show a decisive NPP lead. END NOTE). He asserted that the party's confidence level was based on the simple arithmetic of its demographic support in the most populous regions of Ghana. He claimed that despite the party's fragmentation a year ago, the NPP had pulled together and had strong grassroots organizations throughout the country. He said that the party's strength with the electorate rested on three fundamental pillars: its successful delivery of services, especially in the areas of health care and education; the ability of all Ghanaians to speak their minds openly and freely (in contrast to the situation for nearly two decades under Rawlings' rule); and the economic prosperity and GDP growth that the country had experienced under President Kufuor. ¶5. (SBU) Akufo-Addo clearly is not taking an NPP win for granted. Giving the devil his due, he acknowledged that the NDC's strong suit in the campaign is the fact that despite economic gains of the past 8 years, most Ghanaians did not feel appreciably better off. But he blamed rising petroleum prices and increasingly expensive imports for that situation, and pointed out that if one separated out domestically produced foodstuffs, the average Ghanaian could eat quite well and had made considerable gains under Kufuor. ¶6. (SBU) Asked about the spoiler role that the Convention People's Party (CPP) might play, Akufo-Addo allowed that their presidential candidate, Paa Kwesi Ndoum, had mounted a strong campaign and could poll as much as 5% of the vote. Most of that support, however, would be drained away from the NDC. (NOTE: While that might be a positive for the NPP in the initial election, Akufo-Addo failed to note that in the event of a run-off, most of those votes would likely go back to the NDC. END NOTE.) ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: All of the trappings of incumbency were clearly evident as Ambassador and Poloff pulled up to Akufo-Addo's compound at 8 a.m., including two large touring buses, dozens of luxury vehicles, SUVs, trucks mounted with loud-speaker systems, and an entourage of at least 50 supporters lounging in his yard and inside his home. A video team trained their camera on the candidate and the Ambassador for the full hour of the conversation. Yet despite these obvious advantages, Akufo-Addo and the NPP are not complacent about the election. While his distrust of Jerry Rawlings knows no bounds, he also conceded that the NDC is better organized than it has ever been, and that its base is strong, which leads Embassy to believe that his claim of an easy first-round victory may fall more in the realm of posturing than certitude. TEITELBAUM