President’s Statement Was Diversionary And Disappointing -PPP

The Progressive People’s Party wishes to make the following statements following the policy presentation by the President. It would be right to point out that the president’s policies were geared towards the maintenance of peace and unity in the country. The PPP welcomes the president’s call to reduce the concept of the winner-takes-all-mentality and encourage the participation of other political party representatives in national programmes and reduce the politicization of national events by the party in government.

The PPP is however disappointed that the president did not address the issue of the abuse of incumbency, the unfair coverage by state’s owned media of political parties’ activities and the lack of inclusiveness in the award of contracts which present a barrier to unity. The Presidents statements on anticorruption and governance simply cannot be credible without a firm commitment by the President himself to be an incorruptible leader. You cannot have true peace without leaders who exhibit honesty, integrity and transparency by their actions. Therefore the PPP is also dismayed that the president has refused to show a basic commitment to the principles of incorruptible leadership by agreeing to publicly disclose his assets, tax returns, health status and sources of party funding when he officially files nomination papers to become a presidential candidate in the 2012 Elections.

A commitment by the President to make these disclosures is especially critical since the President has pledged that his “government will ensure that the taxes of Ghanaians, donor funds and all resources held in trust by us for the people of Ghana are used judiciously and effectively in order to better the lot of the ordinary Ghanaian.” How can this statement be trusted if the President refuses to disclose his own Tax Returns, Assets and Sources of Party funds? How can we expect him to fight to expand the tax base if he is not committed to lead by example and push for constitutional reform, including mandating that the President himself pays tax?

Education

The president affirmed his previous view of expanding access and doing what is pragmatic and practical in the face of the financial commitment that needs to be made in educating all Ghanaians. The PPP wishes to remind the president that the constitutional provision that makes basic education FREE and COMPULSORY is possible and cannot be continuously violated. It is an act of injustice to exclude any child from getting basic education. The PPP’s education policy is Free, Compulsory, and Continuous Education (FCCE) from Kindergarten to Senior High school is possible. The only thing that is required to achieve that objective is leadership and personal commitment.

Corruption

The PPP was hugely disappointed when the president conveniently avoided the issue of separating the Attorney-General from the Minister of Justice. The president repeated the usual platitudes of fighting corruption and ensuring accountability by strengthening investigative institutions. The report of the State’s investigative bodies will always end up with the AG’s Department and an unwilling Attorney-General will refuse to act on it. What we need is bold leadership and commitment to the following proposals from the PPP:

• Introduce amendments to the 1992 Constitution that will make three critical changes for progress in Ghana

1. Prohibit Members of Parliament from being appointed as Minsters of State

2. return the power to the people for all Ghanaians to directly elect their district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives without any interference from the President and

3. strengthen the office of Attorney-General by separating it from the Ministry of Justice;

• In addition the president should also agree to make the following immediate, actionable commitments:

Make available to the public asset declarations, income tax returns, health records and sources of campaign funding before the December 7th elections; and

Conduct a campaign to prove competence and ability to offer solutions to the nation’s numerous problems

None of the president’s initiatives would be achieved without a personal commitment to implementing the above. All the talk is just diversionary; the fundamentals need to be tackled and it must begin with the Head of State.

Industry & Private Sector

We are not happy about the president’s initiative to support Ghanaian manufacturing products. We would want a bold initiative that protects local industries form cheap imports. An introduction of tariffs, quotas and other measures are practical enough to ensuring that we protect the market for our manufacturing industry. We will use the state’s purchasing power to support our local industries by giving them direct access to credit and providing a market for their produce.

Creation of Western Corridor Development Authority

The PPP asks: how many Development Authorities do we want to establish as a country? Whilst the president bemoaned the unnecessary bureaucracy in the public sector, he continues to support the creation of different institutions to deal with the one issue of equal development in all the regions and sections of Ghana. We should just have a policy to build equal first class inter regional highways to link all 10 regional capitals; something that can be done by the Ministry of Roads and the Department of Highways. The judicious use of the District Assembly Common Fund by ensuring accountability at the grassroots level with the direct election of the MMDCE’s by the people can guarantee development at the local level and reduce poverty instead of creating duplication institutions that compounds inefficiencies in government.

We are calling on all Ghanaians to reject any presidential candidate who is unable to make direct personal commitment to electing DCE’s and publicly declaring their assets.

We are awake!

Kofi Asamoah-Siaw National Secretary, PPP

A Vote for PPP is a vote for Incorruptible Leadership, Education, Healthcare and JOBS! Our Agenda for Change is Built on these Four Pillars. We are the only party with the incorruptible, competent team necessary to deliver Incorruptible Leadership, improved Education and Healthcare, and thousands of JOBS desperately needed by our youth.