Nduom can’t win 2016 polls – Lecturer

Although the acclaimed flagbearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has espoused great and workable business ideas as part of his campaign activities ahead of this year’s elections, Ghanaians are not ready to shift from their support of the two dominant political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Eric Opoku-Mensah, a lecturer in political communication and presidential rhetoric at the University of Cape Coast, has said.

Dr Nduom, during the party’s delegates conference to acclaim him as flagbearer in Accra on Saturday July 16, said: “…We (PPP) are making our case that if Ghanaians agree that our economy is bad so we need someone to fix the economy that we have given to the IMF, if we all agree that our people need jobs, all we are saying is that I am not coming to stand here and say to you that I will create one million jobs, I won’t do that. I am not coming to say to you that I will build one factory in every district, I won’t do it. And you know why I won’t do it? I have already done it. There is ‘Candidate I-will-do’ and there is ‘Candidate I-have-done’. That is the difference.”

But reacting to the comments by the PPP flagbearer in an interview with Prince Minkah, host of the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM Monday July 18, Dr Opoku Mensah said: “I think Dr Nduom’s political communication is quite relevant in view of Ghana’s economic situation at the moment. He has shown by example that privatisation should lead the transformation of the economy. And not only has he done this through his rhetoric, but he has shown by example. We are aware of the fact that Dr Nduom is probably the only presidential candidate who has businesses in every region of this country and that is admirable, that is significant, so this is not a person who speaks just to get people to follow him but in terms of practicality, he has used his own business as an exemple of what he wants to see Ghana become.

“But the larger question is, is this enough to really get people to move away from the two dominant political parties i.e., the NDC and the NPP in November 2016? I am not very sure about that. I don’t think that even though quite a number of people may be sympathetic to the logical argument being espoused by Dr Nduom, from my point of view and survey, I do not think that it constitutes enough to allow people to shift to make that major decision to ignore the NPP and the NDC. And I think that if Dr Nduom really has a great potential in all of these, I think what it actually brings to the deliberation table is bringing new ideas and challenging the status quo… in terms of refining their ideas about businesses and how to transform Ghana.”

He added: “But I am not sure that Ghanaians are ready to make that major shift. If Dr Nduom has time, in terms of life and strength, we can talk about this happening after 2016, I don’t think Ghana as at now is ready. I am very sympathetic to his political cause, I think he is one of the fine candidates with real tangible ideas, workable ideas, but Ghanaians getting ready to make that major shift, I am not sure about that at least for 2016.”