The NDC Kumasi Congress: Matters arising

The New Patriotic Party congratulates the NDC for a successful conference last Saturday, 20th December, in Kumasi to elect their new executives.

We congratulate the executives on their assumption of office and pray for a useful working relationship between the two parties, in furtherance of democracy in Ghana.

On our part, we remain unperturbed by the election of new executives to run the affairs of the NDC. We have no reason to. It is clear to us that the NDC is in a state of Disaster Management, as the leadership of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has assumed the management of the party at this stage.

For us in the NPP, the key issues for election 2016 are mainly three (3).

• The performance of the NDC government

• Clear alternative that we will offer to the people of Ghana

• Protection of the ballot

Regarding the performance of the government, the general opinion is that, it has been generally poor. The two and half years ‘dumso-dumso’, which is worsening even at this time, the historic fiscal deficit levels, calamitous loss in value of the cedi, the unbearable cost of living, the worsening youth unemployment situation and the unspeakable corruption today, all attest to the performance of the NDC government. The government going cup in hand to the IMF for a bailout is the clearest admission of their failure.

The NPP is confident that we have clear, workable alternatives that the people of Ghana will buy. Our ability as a party to limit the opportunity for electoral fraud and manipulation will also be key in 2016.

These are the issues that we are focused on as a party, and not on the composition of the NDC executive.

Again, we are disturbed by the terrible insults heaped on the General Secretary of the CPP, Ivor GreenStreet, in the aftermath of his solidarity message to the conference.

He has been told he needs to “elevate” himself, a direct reference to his disability, which makes him wheelchair bound. He has also been told he needed psychiatric help. He has also been accused of possession by demons.

The questions for us are as follows;

• Does one need an elevator to see ‘dumsor-dumsor’ or the calamitous fall in the value of the cedi?

• Does one need to stand on ones’ feet to see the horrible hardship that Ghanaians are in today or the unspeakable corruption around us?

The wicked cut of all to Mr. Grenstreet came from the President himself. Even though the President said he was exercising restraint on the matter, he diagnosed Mr. Greestreet as suffering from “incurable selective myopia”; that Mr. Greenstreet was motivated by partisan quest to win power, that he was wearing politically tainted lenses that made him difficult to see reality.

So we ask, is criticism today equated to not seeing reality?

What about all the criticism that President Mahama had made in opposition to national welfare issues such as the NHIS, LEAP,NYEP, and the proposal for the Savanah Development Fund, among others?

How about the other criticism of government performance from labour, the clergy, civil society organizations, international newspaper, magazines and even from the NDC itself?

The President touting of infrastructure as his major achievement maybe good, however, he recently told us that such touting of infrastructure projects was an exercise in mediocrity.

We again note that all governments have done some major infrastructure without the benefit of billions of dollars of oil revenue, without our cedi becoming the worst depreciated currency in the world, and without borrowing over $16billion in just six (6) years.

Despite these regrets, the NPP notes that the NDC has followed our example of expanding massively their electoral college.

We are happy that when parties get better, they look like us.

…Signed…

Nana Akomea

(Communications Director)