He said while it was through the prayers of Ghanaians that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came to power, more prayers were required to ensure that the affairs of governance were steered in the direction of progress and prosperity.

“I will ask of you to continue to pray for Nana Akufo-Addo and the government. We need your prayers to succeed as a government. Your prayers supported us to win. We need your prayers to help us to continue to govern with wisdom, humility and compassion,” Dr Bawumia said.

The Vice-President made the appeal when he delivered an address after thanksgiving prayers to Allah, at the Central Mosque in Accra, for giving victory to the NPP in the 2016 general election.

He attended the prayers in the company of his wife, Samira, and other government officials.

Long journey to victory

Dr Bawumia said it had been a long journey which began for Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008.

The Vice-President recalled that in 2008, the President asked him to partner him for the election and he was privileged and honoured to do so.

“We missed getting the 50 per cent plus 1 just by 23,000 votes in the first round, so we came very close with 49.8 per cent or so. We did not win the second round. We lost the second round by 40,000 votes out of over eight million votes. It was a heart-breaking loss because we thought we were so close but that is the nature of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He said we would live to fight another day and so let’s give it to God and soldier on,” Dr Bawumia narrated.

In 2012, the Vice-President said they went for another election, “and there again, we were very optimistic that by the grace of God, we would win this election. Well, we all know how it turned out. We did not win the official declaration and so we went to the Supreme Court and you all remember, we were there for eight months.

After a very long court process, he continued that the NPP was not declared winner and “yet again when we came home, for me, I was heartbroken because I believed we had made our case. There again, Nana said we should speak to the country and that we have to make sure that peace and stability pertained.”

So, Dr Bawumia said, the NPP flag bearer then, came out and said although he did not agree with the decision, he was accepting it in the interest of the peace of the country.

“That day, my respect for him went up even much more. I understood that this was a man who was in politics not for himself but for the sake of the country,” the Vice-President said.

Dr Bawumia said 2016 was the third time and “he said that we have to let Allah fight that battle for us and so he declared that the battle was for Allah.”

“The flag bearer of the party said there was the need to work hard but equally and more importantly, there was the need to pray hard because it was Allah who installs leaders,” Dr Bawumia added.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh