Akufo-Addo says Mahama is desperate and will mismanage the economy - Issues or Personalities?

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says John Dramani Mahama, his main opponent, “is desperate to return to power [and] continue the agenda of mismanaging the economy to the suffering and despair of businesses, households and families”.

The president added that John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by that will be jeopardising the future of the children of Ghana who are enjoying free education from nursery through to the secondary school level.

Akufo-Addo, in a series of posts on his Facebook Timeline propagating the achievements of his administration as the country heads to the polls on December 7 indicated that, “we cannot afford to let that happen”.

“We cannot, therefore, be complacent. We have to work hard for victory, regardless of the fact that one good term deserves another,” the post read on.

Ghanaians on election day will be choosing mainly between former President John Dramani Mahama and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The incumbent NPP launched their manifesto dubbed “Leadership of service: protecting our progress, transforming Ghana for all” at the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, while the NDC launched their manifesto dubbed “Jobs, prosperity and more; the people’s manifesto” at the University for Professional Studies, Accra.

The NPP’s manifesto, the President in his post noted, is based on a belief in “the programmes that we have drawn up in our Manifesto, because they will continue the nation on the path of social and economic transformation, on which we have embarked. Indeed, they will lead to the transformation of Ghana to the benefit of all Ghanaians.”

Since the two manifestos were launched, both parties have tried to focus on issues to some success, though largely they have chosen to focus on personalities.

Whilst Gabby Otchere-Darko, and Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, key NPP advisers have said that the elections are about the two personalities, Samira Bawumia, the Vice President's wife, said in Kumasi over the weekend to NPP women's organisers that the elections are "not about personalities", and urged a focus on achievements as a strategy to bring out voters.

The President's social media messages did not show how the NPP has done better, and frankly borders on the personality game, to wit, John Dramani Mahama "is desperate".

Meanwhile trending on social media, John Dramani Mahama has been saying that the government’s own record says that from 2012 to 2016, he, Mahama, grew the economy by 13 billion cedis, whilst from 2017 to the end of 2020, the economy it is projected by this same incumbent NPP that the economy will have grown under them by "11 billion cedis".

We await credible responses from both candidates based on issues.

Meanwhile we agree with Samira Bawumia that the elections are not about personalities, otherwise none of the two leaders will qualify, for they have both mismanaged the economy.

Mahama and the NDC took over the Ghanaian economy which had recently come out of the IMF's from Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) with external debts/total debts at about four billion dollars, and raised them astronomically justified by Seth Terkper, the then finance minister's concept of "smart borrowing".

And now, look at the ballooning debts being heaped upon us, easily about four billion dollars a year.

"Did we go or did we come?"

Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister even praised God on Kwaku Sakyi-Addo's Sunday Night that he was able to raise three billion dollars in foreign bonds and soon thereafter "the markets closed" due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

This is Ghana, where Ghanaians were asked by President Kufuor to "bite the bullets" and "work hard" so that four billion dollars could be forgiven under HIPC.

What have the NPP and the NDC, led by invariably these same poliTRIKcians led us into, counting from 2007, only 13 years ago when we all came out of the choking national debt situation?

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and do not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @3ArthurAidoo