NPP flag
Politics is about a social contract between a political party and the people it seeks power from. This social contract is bounded by mutual respect; any political party that shows no respect to the people it got power from is not worth trusting going forward.
Before the 2016 general elections, the then New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate and his running mate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, respectively, took over the political scene with their electrifying and compelling campaign.
After two previous failed attempts, it was obvious that the 2016 election was Akufo-Addo’s last shot at the presidency. He and the entire NPP team realised that 2016 was “make or break.”. The entire party machinery went back to the drawing board and planned and identified their message and the message resonated with the general populace, except that it was all vicious lies and unrealistic promises interlaced with undignified attacks and name-calling towards the then-sitting President John Dramani Mahama.
Candidate Akufo-Addo and his running mate accused President John Dramani Mahama of running a family and friends’ government and promised to do things differently; they failed abysmally on this promise after winning the elections with close to 1 million votes.
They spoke against the IMF programme under John Mahama and promised never to go to the IMF, they accused the NDC of reckless borrowing and promised to reduce borrowing, and they promised to move the economy from taxation to production. The NPP branded the Energy sector levy, which was supposed to end by 2017, as a
nuisance tax and promised to scrap it if elected, but not only did they
extended it indefinitely; they also collateralized it for loans.
They made ear-soothing and compelling promises in order to win the confidence of the people, including:
One district, one factory.
One village, one dam
$1 million per constituency annually.
I will use the Anas’ principle to fight corruption.
I will not run a family and friends’ government.
I will stabilise the exchange rate.
I will shift the economy from taxation to production.
I will build 350 brand-new secondary schools from scratch
Make Accra the cleanest city in West Africa.
We will not go to the IMF.
xi. I will protect the public purse.
None of the above promises have been fulfilled by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led administration after being in power for close to eight years. The NDC was accused and vilified by the NPP for borrowing about GHC 120 billion between 2009 and 2016, which it termed reckless and excessive borrowing, despite the numerous infrastructural projects scattered across the length and breadth of the country.
Apart from running to the IMF and introducing more taxes while increasing the already existing ones, the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government has been on a borrowing spree, and the national debt stock is close to GHC 700 billion since 2017 and still counting, but it has nothing significant to show for it except the Free SHS, which costs less than GHC 20 billion since its introduction.
The country is in this muddle as a result of nepotism, cronyism, and mismanagement of the economy. They have rather decided to give excuses for their abysmal performance and arrogantly declare their intention to “break the 8” instead of “fixing the mess.”. Clearly, the primary objective of the NPP is to hang onto power but not to develop the country and improve the standards of living of its citizens.
On the day President Akufo-Addo was sworn in, $1 was equal to GHC 3.8, and £1 was equal to GHC 5.9. Today, $1 is equal to GHC 14.40, while £1 is equal to GHC 18.40. This is in spite of the fact that the government has suspended servicing its external debt since 2020. A bag of cement was selling at GHC20 in 2016, but GHC90 today. A gallon of diesel was selling at GHC18 in 2016, and today, a litre is selling at GHC 16.60; therefore, a gallon is GHC 61.42 (from GHC 18 in 2016 to 61.42 in 2024) under the so-called competent team. The debt to GDP was 54% in 2016 and was vehemently criticised as a sign of incompetence on the part of H.E. John Mahama; today it is 104% under President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
If the NPP had an atom of respect for Ghanaians, they would have undertaken a sober reflection on their promises in relation to the results; they would have had the humility and the modesty to at least apologise to Ghanaians for their failed promises, but they have no respect for us, hence the annoying and distasteful “breaking the eight” rendition.
The business community is suffering, pensioners are also bearing the brunt, and their life savings have been locked up as a result of the reckless management of the economy by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government, which led to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). This is unprecedented in the history of this country; nurses and teachers are leaving the country in record numbers, yet the same administration has the temerity to churn out a slogan about continuing to be in power.
If Akufo-Addo hadn’t become president, history would have remembered him as the best president Ghana never had, but currently, he is going down as the worst president in the history of Ghana.
