Accra, Sept.22, GNA - National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Monday urged the government to concentrate on alleviating the economic hardships it had brought upon Ghanaians instead of wasting time to respond to every criticism.
Mr Lee Ocran, Deputy Chairman of the NDC, said this at a press conference to respond to issues raised by the Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng at a press briefing on September 11.
Mr Ocran said: "It is about time the NPP realised that as the government, it is not everything it must respond to and that sometimes it ridicules itself by some of its public statements, which create the impression that it does not realise that it is the government.
"We wish the NPP government would rather concentrate on its work, so they can reduce the present economic hardship, solve the murder of the Ya-Na and his followers, halt the frightening exodus of Ghanaians from the land of their birth and tackle the corruption within its ranks," he said.
Mr Ocran noted that the answer to the problem of the ruling NPP government did not lie in spin doctoring and reacting to genuine criticisms through passion and ill temper, adding, "it lies in being tolerant of other people's views and in adopting people-centred policies".
He said the language of Mr Asamoah-Boateng at his press briefing was in a very bad taste and incoherent.
The Deputy Minister's statement was nothing new but a rehash of old accusations and putting a new twist on historical events.
Mr Ocran noted that Mr Asamoah-Boateng persistently claimed that the NPP was working to clean the mess of the NDC government. He said NPP functionaries had created enough mess by the several scandals and corruption allegations involving NPP Ministers and Officials that could not be tagged on the NDC government.
Mr Ocran cited the almost 100 per cent increase in petroleum products prices, high school fees, the "surreptitiously" introduced VAT increase, 300 per cent increase in utility tariffs, 50 per cent increase in transport fares, the abrogation of perfectly legitimate contracts, "sequestration" of workers' SSNIT contribution and all other policies and measures that were making life unbearable for the ordinary Ghanaian could not be a reversal of the so-called mess of the previous government.
He said the NPP government was desperate to divert the nation's attention from the economy so clearly focused by Professor John Evans Atta-Mills, NDC's Flagbearer to other matters of no consequence.
"The NDC will not be diverted. We see Asamoah-Boateng's press conference as an irritating diversion, which we shall ignore after this press conference and return to the issue of the economy, the hardship facing our people, the desperation of the citizenry and the sense of betrayal that our people feel in voting for what has turned out to be a very negative change.
