NDC's manifesto is vague - CPP

The Conventions Peoples Party (CPP) says the NDC manifesto is a repetition of empty promises, as Ghana, the land of plenty continues to under-develop.

A statement issued in reaction to the recently launched NDC Manifesto by the CPP, signed by Nii Armah Akomfrah, Director of Communications of the Party, said a country blessed with gold, diamond, bauxite, and manganese was reduced to begging to function, despite record rises in commodity prices.

“A country blessed with arable lands, plants of medicinal value, the benefit and potential of numerous rivers and oil & gas, yet the most important resource of Ghana, her people, remains unemployed, hungry and thirsty in the midst of plenty. Malaria remains the number one killer of children in Ghana, yet the filth and open sewage remains under the NDC’s better Ghana agenda, making our sanitation one of the worst in the region.”

The statement said the human and natural resources had not stopped Ghana from the bankruptcy of HIPC, neither had it stopped Ghana from reliance on donor countries for over 40% of her budget. The geographical position in the tropics had not been utilized for energy production, neither had the rivers.

Electricity generation actually declined in 2012 compared to same period in 2011 despite the empty rhetoric. Even the onset of oil and gas had not ended the power outage, the statement said asking when would the "DUM S? DUM S?" (light off and on) end in Ghana.

"Over the years NDC and NPP have failed to provide the basic needs of the electorate. The railways have virtually collapsed. This under-development is not enough to dissuade the NDC and NPP from declaring Ghana a middle income economy. NPP and NDC should serve the Ghanaian tax payer not the IMF."

The CPP pointed out that the national debt had reached a gargantuan $31billion and speeding recklessly towards another HIPC explaining that Ghana’s total merchandise export stood at US$8.4 billion from January to July 2012.

"Over $6.9 billion (82%) came from raw material export, namely gold, cocoa beans and crude oil. Ghana still has a Guggisberg raw material exporting economy but without the railway, it added.

The trade deficit widened from US1.3 billion in January to July 2011 to US2 billion (53% increase) in the same period, 2012. With a worsening current account deficit of US2.8 billion in the first half of 2012, pressure on the embattled cedi is bound to intensify. The Cedi will therefore continue its depreciation post December 2012. Yet there are no measures in the NPP and NDC manifestos to tackle these structural deficiencies.

The CPP said the solutions to the deficiencies were found only and only in the CPP manifesto.

Urging Ghanaians to vote for the CPP, the statement said under Dr Abu Sakara Foster and the CPP, electricity production would increase consistently. There would be industrialization to reduce the import bill, and improve the trade balance, thus relieving the chronic pressure on the cedi.

"There will be investment in agriculture to feed the nation and build real food security under Dr Abu Sakara and the CPP. The CPP has always maintained that Ghana needs massive Industrialization linked with our rural economic activities."