Why NDC will experience more voter apathy in 2020

By Kwaku Badu

The 2016 general election was extremely interesting. The NDC Party apologists were in high spirits, before and during the election.

Disappointingly, however, the NDC faithful discovered their “real size” after the declaration of the election results. Their much touted ‘comfortable lead’ was soon to be metamorphosed into a melancholic defeat.

Strangely, the ever so confident NDC apologists impertinently kept pontificating before the election that the Ghana health authorities should, as a matter of urgency, assemble a fleet of ambulances with a view to transporting the supporters of the NPP Party to the nearby health centres following the declaration of the election results.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be an illustrative case of ‘what goes around comes around’. The NDC apple-polishing bandwagon received a shock of their life and they are yet to recover from the suspected heart muscle fibrillation.

Indeed, the NDC apparatchiks irrevocable puzzlement over the election defeat gave rise to a sleuth-hound Committee to let the “non-existent cat out of the bag.”

Apparently, the General Secretary of the party, Asiedu Nketsia and his cohorts are holding a phantom believe that their aggrieved supporters failed to cast their vote. In other words, the leadership are blaming the defeat on voter apathy.

However the NDC apparatchiks disappointments and puzzled countenance over the election results, the founder of the NDC Party and former President J. J. Rawlings is blaming the leadership for their unobjectionable incompetence, corruption and shenanigans.

“Most people are yet to recover from the traumatic shock of the December 7th election results.

“But I will have to state that if we turn our backs to our history us a party, we cannot escape the responsibility for the result. I kept providing the warning whenever and wherever I could, and in public as well.

“But no, once again the uncouth and uncultured in our party and government chose to insult and disrespect some of us” (Rawlings, 2016).

I could not agree more with former President Rawlings. As a matter of fact, the NDC government took Ghanaians for granted.

Let us face it, though, the successive NDC governments have turned out to be the worst economic managers.

Take, for example, Mahama’s government doubled the previously single digit inflation and budget deficit. The GH9.5 billion debt which former President Kufuor and his NPP government left in 2009 ballooned to inexplicable figures. Our total debt ballooned to GH120 billion as of December 2016.

What’s more, the ever soaring inflation, the currency depreciation and above all the high costs of living were too much of a bother to discerning Ghanaians.

In spite of their abysmal performance, the NDC clamorous apparatchiks slyly resorted to disinformation metastasising, or to put it euphemistically, systematic propagation of propagandistic materials.

Consequently, the erudite Dr Bawumiah warned the government: “The lesson from history for governments is that you cannot manage the economy with propaganda. In fact, you can engage in all the propaganda you want but if the macroeconomic fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you.”

Despite the persistent sound advice from prominent economists like Dr Bawumiah, the NDC government failed to heed and wilfully sunk the economy into the mire.

Ghanaians thus ineffaceably stencilled all the agonies on their mental sheets and voted out the NDC government in 2016 general election.

You may believe it or not, if President Akufo Addo were to honour his Manifesto promises of one district one factory, one village one dam in the northern part of Ghana, one million dollars per constituency, free SHS, tax reductions, among others, I bet, more NDC supporters will either vote NPP or will refuse to vote NDC in the 2020 election.

Take, for example, if President Akufo Addo’s government were to undertake the irrigation projects in the northern part of Ghana, clearly, more happy faces will emerge and NDC Party will experience more voter apathy in 2020.

If NPP government were to erect factories all over the place and the jobless youth were to blissfully engage in gainful employment, the NDC Party will face more voter apathy in 2020.

If Akufo-Addo’s government were to reduce the high utility bills to ease the burden on Ghanaians, trust me, there will be more voter apathy in 2020.

If the Energy Minister, Boakye-Agyarko managed to fix the deeply worrying dumsor, Ghanaians will fall in love with the NPP government and the NDC Party will face more voter apathy.

If President Akufo-Addo’s government were to give out one million dollars to each constituency for selected developmental projects, I bet, the NDC Party will be hit with more voter apathy in 2020.

If NPP government were to pay more attention to the Zongo developmental projects, I could envisage more Zongo people dumping NDC Party and voting for NPP Party in 2020 general election.

What’s more, a successful implementation of the free SHS will definitely win more souls for the NPP Party during the 2020 election.

As a matter of fact, the worst economic conditions, coupled with the never ending dumsor brought untold hardships to the good people of Ghana. Hence the vast majority of Ghanaians would not wish to experience such harsh conditions ever again.