EIU’s election report a diversionary tactic – Yankah

The report released by the Economist and Intelligence Unit (EIU) which predicted victory for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 elections but with fresh presidential candidate, is a ploy to divert attention from serious economic and developmental challenges facing Ghana, a former Minister of State, Mr Kojo Yankah has said.

The Founder of the African University College of Communications (AUCC) wondered why Ghana’s media, which in his view, are supposed to be agenda setters, have embraced this report voraciously and making it a priority issue at this time.

“An external intelligence unit decides to divert people’s attention from serious economic and developmental challenges facing Ghana by suggesting likely winners in 2024 elections, and Ghana’s media, supposed to be Agenda setters, have embraced it voraciously and making it a priority issue at this time. Are we serious?” He said in a Facebook post.

The EIU has predicted victory for the NDC in the 2024 elections. It however said it expects the NDC party to choose a fresh presidential candidate for that election.

“The next parliamentary and presidential elections are due in 2024. Under the constitutionally mandated term limits, Mr. Akufo-Addo cannot run for a third term. Mr. Mahama is reportedly considering whether to run again, but we expect the NDC to seek to revitalise its prospects with a fresh candidate.

“After two terms of NPP government, we expect the NDC to win 2024 presidential election and to gain a small majority in parliament,” the latest report of the firm said.

It added: “In the 2020 parliamentary election, the NPP and the NDC each won 137 seats, but in January the one independent Member of Parliament (MP) announced that he would co-operate with the NPP, giving it the 138 seats needed for an effective majority.

“With a razor-thin majority, the Akufo-Addo administration will require all of its MPs to vote with the party in order to push through signature policies, which is likely to necessitate deal-making to persuade MPs, which stands to obstruct immediate policy priorities, such as reducing a large fiscal overhang through expenditure cuts and tax rises”.

A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Otokunor, said the report is full of conjectures.

He told TV3’s Dela Michel in an interview on the Mid Day news Monday, March 22 that the EUI did not do any proper research before releasing this report.

There is nothing good about this report that one can claim that there is good news.

“Clearly, this is a compendium of some conjectures. This is not any research report that one can base strategies on. Most of the things they have recounted in the report are things that we already know."

“...If you look at the analysis what they have done clearly is very defective,” he said.

Meanwhile, following this report information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that the NPP administration is working hard to retain the confidence of Ghanaians ahead of the 2024 elections.

This, he said will enable the party to break the 8-year cycle.

The Ofoase-Ayirebi lawmaker said at a press conference in Accra that “They are guiding notes; nothing more. We consider them and use them to help us in the work that we do.

“This administration intends to work very hard to retain the confidence of the people so that by the time our tenure ends we can break this 8-year cycle of changing government even if the economy is doing well”.