Ghanaians have an unwritten convention to give every govt 8 years - Pius Hadzide

Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Pius Enam Hadzide claims since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1992, Ghanaians by convention have understood that every government in power should be given a minimum of 8 years.

It is going by this convention, he said, that successive governments under the Fourth Republic served 8 years in government.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Pius Hadzide held the view should the 2020 election be based on performance then the ruling NPP deserves more than 8 years, simply because even the non-performing NDC government had 8 years to rule.

“One thing we must take notice of is that since 1992, Ghanaians by convention have understood that every government in power should be given a minimum of 8 years. But if the election should be based on performance, the NDC that did not have performance record was given 8 years in power and so if the election should be based on performance, then the NPP deserves more than 8 years in power....

“It is for this reason that during the tenure of Mr Rawlings, Ghanaians gave the NDC 8 years and it is also based on this reason that Ghanaians gave Kufuor and Aliu Mahama 8 years in office and it is for a purpose that Ghanaians gave Mills and Mahama 8 years in office and so I know that Ghanaians will look at that convention they had adhered to since 1992 to date and also the exceptional performance of President Akufo-Addo and then give him 8 years”, he stressed.

He stressed that Ghanaians know that every government needs more years to accomplish its spelt-out programmes; pointing out that a team has to be put in place first, before action commences.

“…we have to fill the gap that we inherited from the previous government, thus, if the previous government went to the IMF, you have to put measures in place to get out of the IMF conditionalities and with the Dumsor, we needed time to fix the problem caused by another government

"...for every new government, actual work starts in the second and third year; thus, it becomes difficult for the new government to complete projects on time, thus the need for a second term....This is why I am saying that every government will need more time to complete its projects”, Pius Hadzide insisted.