Anniversary statement of the NDC

Presented at a press conference, in Accra, to mark the party?s 10th anniversary

Today the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) marks the tenth anniversary of its historic formation, and takes a critical look at what is becoming known as "Ghana's Great Leap Backwards" under the NPP administration. *1e also take the opportunity to launch "A Social Democratic 'Agenda for Ghana", incorporating the social democratic philosophy of the NDC.

In commemoration of our tenth anniversary, the leadership of the N.DC extends its heartfelt felicitations to the Founding Fathers, members, supporters and all sympathizers who have stood behind the Party, especially in these difficult times when ordinary members and functionaries of the past NDC Government are being subjected to the cruelest and most unnecessary forms of harassment and political persecution for simply serving their nation to the best of their abilities and discretions,

Since the NDC blazed the democratic political trail ten years ago, it has chalked considerable success, arguably making Ghana the leading democratic nation in Africa, and bringing rare hope to a parched political terrain., From the stagnation of political development in the 1960s and 70s, the NDC led in the launching of a Fourth Republic that ushered in the first peaceful transfer of power in Ghana. The NDC created room in the democratic architecture for differences of political opinion, and entirely and sincerely leveled the political playing field.

The NDC took Ghanaian democracy to new frontiers, designing and implementing new concepts of local government that today ensure democratic participation across the social divide. Farmers, fishermen, medical doctors, market traders, teachers, nurses and the self employed found the true meaning of equal citizenship and proudly argued on the floors of unit committees and district assemblies, often turning the spotlight on previously obscure social issues. Ours is a unique record of people?s empowerment.

The NDC waged a relentless campaign for the disadvantaged and created an enabling environment characterised by a revolution in the economic and financial sectors, social and economic infrastructure, private sector development, education, health and housing.

For the first time in our history, a Stock Exchange was established to power the. mobilization of capital. Financial reforms spawned well over 300 forex bureaux and several new banks, enhancing access to private and corporate finance.

In the first year of its formation, the NDC launched a landmark political campaign devoid of acrimony that captured the imagination of the electorate. The campaign swept all opposition under the feet of the NDC to win a landslide electoral victory in December 1992, ushering in the 4th Republic of Ghana and installing the Founding Father of the Party, Fit. Lt. (rtd) JJ. Rawlings, as President of the Republic and Head of State.

Under the administration of the NDC, two other successful elections were conducted by the Electoral Commission the last of which, in December, 2000, ensured the smooth transfer of political power for the first time in the history of the country from one political party to a different political party.

With this record, the NDC has bestowed onto Ghana, an impeccable political legacy of which every member should be justifiably proud. It is a record with few parallels in Africa.

We nurtured democracy and multi?partyism, we ensured political stability, we secured the rule of law, and we guaranteed the independence of the judiciary.

We also liberalized the airwaves, and under the NDC government, the country saw the widest expansion of private radio and television stations in our nation?s history. In the area of the print media, the proliferation of newspapers also occurred within the media environment created by and under the administration of the NDC.

Indeed, the leadership of the NDC is very proud to be associated with this phenomenal nurturing of a budding political system and culture as well as the creation of a media environment that has become the envy of the rest of the continent.

The NDC boldly proclaims its mission. 'With a hand to every Ghanaian and an indomitable determination to build a proud and prosperous homeland'. This is the guiding principle that informs our philosophy of social democracy, which we take the opportunity to formally launch today. We assure the mass of Ghanaians of our undying determination to create a worthy democratic model in our homeland.

However, we are aware of the deliberate and concerted campaign orchestrated in high places to distort and obliterate our proud record. For example, recent GNA sources reported President Kufuor as saying that ?Ghana was at the crossroad (sic) of losing its socioeconomic gain when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) took over power.?

This statement flies in the face of the enormous achievements of the NDC government besides which the puny efforts of the NPP pale into insignificance. Indeed the NDC Government's performance was excellent until the middle of 1999 when we were hit by two developments beyond our control ? the plummeting of the world price of cocoa and the steep rise in the world price of crude oil.

Since the NPP Government came into power, the reverse has been the case. The world price of cocoa has almost doubled, and the world price of crude oil has been halved. Even with these working in the NPP's favour, they have not been able to perform adequately on the economic front.

The President is also reported to have taken credit for the granting of dual citizenship to Ghanaians resident abroad. This is a matter which every citizen knows was championed and substantially implemented by the NDC government, and about which the current government. little. Indeed, presidential gaffes in Zambia and Canada where President Kufuor announced that the law was about to be passed when it had already been passed in 2000 are still fresh in our minds.

The Citizenship Act, 2000, Act 591, which granted dual citizenship to Ghanaians for the first time, was passed by the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic, which had an absolute NDC majority, and signed into law by ex?President JJ. Rawlings. The Regulations, which the NPP Government laid before the Third Parliament of the Fourth Republic, were finalized by the NDC Government before it left office.

The President is also quoted to have announced a few days ago in Hamburg, Germany, that his government had recently secured funds for the Tem.a?Sogakope road when in fact funding for that road project had been approved by Parliament in 2000. Indeed as far back as 1999, then NDC Minister of Finance Kwame Peprah in his Budget Statement had announced that donor financial commitment had been obtained for the Terna?Sogakope road (Page 44, paragraph 210 of the 1999 Budget Statement).

When recently the Ministry of Education cancelled the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results, practically every candidate was affected in an examination disaster unprecedented since colonial times. When the massive cost of cancellation, some ?42.5 billion, was pointed out to the NPP government, they deliberately turned a blind eye, and reacted as though the ?5 billion cost of reprinting examination papers was the only cost involved. In fact, total loss to government and parents included fees paid by candidates and actual government subvention as well as costs of the original print run and costs of preparing the pupils for the re?sit examinations.

Let us now turn to other matters of critical national importance.

While the NPP government goes about trumpeting its so?called achievements, the majority of Ghanaians are suffering. Prices of goods and services are sky high; schools fees have gone up substantially; and, water and electricity charges were increased by well over 100 per cent last year. Further increases in utility tariffs are threatened. Petrol prices were increased by 65 per cent and postal and telephone charges rose hugely.

On the other hand, public sector wages and salaries were increased by a meagre 20?30 percent, and the plight of the unemployed has worsened. A number of gimmicks have been used to raise and dash their hopes. Countrywide registration of the unemployed, undertaken last Year appears to have only added insult to injury as it has lead to no jobs for the unemployed. Street beggars and destitute who were similarly registered are also waiting patiently for their share of jobs.

A wide and ironic gap has emerged between official rhetoric and harsh reality. In the President's State of the Nation address earlier this year, he alluded to previous governments producing budgets that bore no resemblance to the realities on the ground'. That, indeed, is an excellent summary of the NPP's economic performance to date.

Present attempts to retire officers and men from the Army and replace them with party loyalists bode ill for our country. In spite of feeble denials, several individuals have identified themselves as having been approached on a partisan basis to join the Ghana Army.

This country cannot be run on the basis of parochialism. But on the basis of appointments into government and the inner circles of the Presidency, it appears that nepotism and parochialism are the guiding principles for appointment by the NIPP government. At the last count, well over 20 close relatives of the President had been appointed into privileged positions, many of them ill?qualified but earning thousands of dollars a month. The effect of this narrow agenda is to exclude wide sections of the citizenry from participation in public affairs and the effective running of their own country. On the contrary, we can point to a number of members of Kufuor's government, including the President himself, who were given opportunity to serve by the former NDC government.

We want to reiterate our concern about the continued non?use of the Presidential Gulf stream Jet whilst installments on it continue to be paid in foreign ?exchange and the President and his huge entourages continue to travel by commercial flights, first class, on their numerous trips, abroad. Meanwhile, the Presidential Fokker 28 Jet has also been refurbished at enormous cost to the State.

We also want to express concern about the political games being played with and in our Supreme Court. Never since President Kwame Nkrumah dismissed the 3 Supreme Court Justices who tried and acquitted Tawia Adamafio & 'Co. after the Kulungugu Bomb outrage and appointed 3 new Justices who found them guilty in a retrial, has any Government of Ghana so blatantly shown its hand at interfering with the composition of the Supreme Court in order to achieve a particular result in a particular case.

We however await the outcome of the Supreme Court decision in the Review Case involving the challenge to the constitutionality of the Fast Track High Court before we make our further views on this subject known.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, we wish to reiterate our strongest protest against the continued Intimidation, harassment, persecution and prosecution of ex?NDC Ministers of State and officials, our members, supporters, sympathizers and even perceived sympathizers, and warn that it is setting a bad precedent for the handling of future political transitions in the country.

Similarly, the attempt to characterize almost all international, agreements and domestic contracts entered into by the NDC Government as either criminal or tainted with corruption is sending very wrong signals to the investor community. The feeling is that one?s investment is never safe once there is a change of government, and that is risky for investments.

Contrary to what President Kufuor is reported to have told his audience in faraway Germany, the so?called reconciliation exercise will not succeed in its aim of uniting the country because the whole exercise as conceived and implemented is divisive.

The National Reconciliation Act under which the National Reconciliation Commission is to operate is partisan, the NDC Parliamentary Minority having boycotted the vote on it; it is targeted at the NDC/PNDC in particular; it contains provisions that are possibly un, constitutional and could constitute infringements on the fundamental human rights of some citizens; and the membership of the Commission includes persons who are either hostile, or have reasons to be hostile to the NDC; and at least one person who has been a political competitor to the NDC in this very Fourth Republic,

Instead of some of our friends in the media discussing these and other very critical issues of the day, they have unfortunately left much to be desired. Many pressmen and women are worthy people who report and comment objectively on political matters. However, others have permitted television, newspaper columns and the airwaves to become mere conduits of Government propaganda. Today many broadminded citizens recoil in horror at steeply unbalanced daily discussions on radio and television calculated solely to secure political advantage through falsehood, exaggeration and misrepresentation facts, remember the speed with which the NPP in opposition rushed to court to complain that the state media were not giving them fair or adequate coverage. With corruption ?and reports of corruption oozing from the heart of government, it would be worthwhile to turn sustained media attention TO happenings at Tema Municipal Assembly, the Ministries and elsewhere.

It is time Ghanaians judged for themselves. No Government can succeed by distorting facts and living in a world of make?belief. In the deceptive world of political spin, it is the spinners who lose out in the end when the people find out the truth. Spin after spin may well turn pathological.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the formation of the NDC, we urge, the NPP Government to put a stop to the unhealthy political practices and let us work together to move Ghana forward, even as we engage in healthy political debate and healthy electoral politics.

The N.DC 'hopes that the present leaders will build upon the foundation that was laid under its stewardship so that Ghana's current democratic dispensation can survive the test of time to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of Ghanaians for a happy, strife?free and prosperous country,

We thank you very much for being with us to share in the joy of our anniversary.