Mahama photocopied Akufo-Addo’s ideas – NPP

The New Patriotic Party has accused President John Mahama and his National Democratic Congress government of “photocopying” and making Nana Akufo-Addo’s ideas the key highlights of their 2016 manifesto.

According to the acting General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, the highlights of the NDC 2016 manifesto which were unveiled Tuesday night is fraught with the ideas that Akufo-Addo have been trumpeting to implement if voted into power in this year’s December 2016 elections.

He described the NDC’s manifesto which has been categorised into four thematic areas as a photocopy of the ideas of the NPP.

“You can see that what they call the highlight of their manifesto was just a photocopy of what the New Patriotic Party has been saying,” he told Onua FM’s Kwame Asante after he picked up the presidential nomination forms for the party at the Electoral Commission.

Among other things, the NDC is promising in its manifesto to create five more administrative districts of Ghana, create a development authority, implement recommendations to elect chief executives of the various municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies.

But these, Mr Boadu said are ideas, which he said are at the heart of the people of the country, that the flag-bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, have been trumpeting to implement on his election.

He said when Nana Akufo- Addo told the people of the Western Region on his campaign tour that he was going to carve out a Western-North, the NDC unleashed attack on him and branded him as being divisive.

“Nana decided that our manifesto will take care of the western north. What did we hear from the NDC? That we want to divide the western region. Now they’re saying that they are going to divide regions into five more regions,” he said.

He added: ” If one breakdown of region equals to divisiveness or bringing division then how do you describe adding additional five? Or they are going to bring other regions from Burkina Faso or Mali to add up to Ghana”.

Mr Boadu continued: “Nana decided to make the election of DCEs and MDCEs a reality, what did you hear yesterday? Now the president comes back to say that that’s what he’s going to do. If he’s prepared to do that and it is not about copying he had four years to have implement the Constitutional Review Committee’s report,” Mr Boadu said.

He suggested the move by the president was a desperate one especially when the president had in a white paper rejected the call for election of chief executives by the people.

“Nana decided to create what he called Development Authority, all of a sudden, Mahama also sees reason to also have development authority,” he said These, Mr Boadu explained, goes to demonstrate that the NPP’s flag-bearer is the man of the moment who is leading a new wind of change in this country hence urged all to get on board."

“Change is really coming. All those who can’t beat Nana should join Nana,” he said.