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.













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