Akufo-Addo running 'government as you go' administration – Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a cathedral of strong words against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying he is running a “government-as-you-go” administration without clear guidelines.

He also labelled the current government as a “super-incompetent” regime under which Ghanaians, according to him, are experiencing a level of hard times worse than the living conditions the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had claimed existed when he was in charge as President between 2012 and 2016.

The former President was speaking Saturday in the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga, to a charged crowd of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at the close of the ninth edition of the party’s grassroots rebuilding exercise dubbed the “Unity Walk”.

“There are many other things this government is doing in an ad hoc manner. It is as if they are governing in a manner called ‘Government as You Go’. Government as You Go,” he said repeatedly as the crowd at the Ramsey Stadium cheered and blared vuvuzelas in response.

“Because for every programme that is rolled out, there is no policy, there is no guideline. And that is the problem— Government as You Go. You just dream of something; even the promises you made before the election you have not yet fulfilled; you are struggling,” he explained.

Mahama cited the dams and the factories the NPP promised Ghanaians before the 2016 polls among some amenities he said the Akufo-Addo Government had failed to deliver more than 16 months into power.

“I watched a video recently and they (the NPP) said clearly, ‘One million dollars per constituency’. Now, they are not adding what was following it, ‘per year’— ‘One million dollars per constituency per year’. Now today, we are told that it was a mere thought (he pauses for effect). It was a mere thought.

“I mean all of you were here in 2016. One village,” he told the admiring crowd as he began to mention some of the NPP’s 2016 election campaign clauses. “One dam,” the crowd responded. “One district,” he recounted. The gathering replied, “One factory”. “One million,” he said. “One constituency,” they both chorused. “Now they say one ambulance, one district. One blood, one drone,” he added as the multitude sighed and laughed.