NDC, NPP manifestos look similar but the NDC messenger lacks credibility – Dr Simon Boateng

Dr. Simon Boateng, the deputy constituency secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Constituency of the Ashanti Region has admitted that the manifestoes of his party and that of the opposition NDC bear similarities but insists the disparity lies in the credibility of the candidates bearing the message.

Reviewing the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress launched over the weekend, Dr Boateng indicated that he was impressed leaders from the two dominant political divides saw a need in the common visions of fully realizing the dividends of the Free Senior High School Policy, investing in agriculture expansion among a host of others.

“I am very happy that for the first time in so many years, the two major political parties are seeing the destiny of Ghana, in common policies. We are all talking about digitalization and improvement in agriculture, and the policies seem the same with others looking similar. They are both promising to train 1 million youth in coding,” he observed.

Dr. Simon Boateng however indicated that it was prudent for Ghanaians presented with similar propositions, to go beyond the messages to examine the integrity and credibility of the messengers carrying the messages.

“When messages are the same, if you want to do critical analysis, it’s prudent that you go beyond the messages and analyze the messengers. In this case, you put them in the right perspective and analyze them on their integrity and credibility,” he stressed.

Punching holes into the credibility of the flag bearer of the NDC and Former President, John Dramani Mahama, he questioned how Mr. Mahama could be trusted to do a free distribution of sanitary pads to school girls when he slapped taxes on the hygiene material during his tenure as president.

He queried how the NDC could be trusted to improve the National Health Insurance Scheme when the party piloted a botched capitation system in the Ashanti Region and failed to deliver a failed one-time premium promise.

“Policy Think Tank Imani Africa took their 2012 manifesto and did an integrity and fidelity analysis in 2026. They scored the NDC 52%. It is almost a failure in any university in Ghana. Imani’s output-based analysis said the NDC under President John Dramani Mahama did not excel in keeping its promise to Ghanaians,” he added.

The director of elections for the National Democratic Congress in the Atwima Kwanwoma Constituency Francis Agyekum however rebuffed the assertions describing any attempt to do a credibility comparison between Dr Bawumia and John Dramani Mahama as an insult to the conscience of the public.

“It will be a big insult to tell Ghanaians that Bawumia known as Bawu Liar is credible and has more integrity than Mahama. At one time he is a mate who is not in charge of affairs and at another time, he takes praises when he thinks that certain things have gone well,” he averred.

Francis Agyekum said it was difficult to foist a tag of credibility on a Vice President who was chosen on the count of his economic prowess but failed to deliver.

“After he failed as an economist to manage the economy well; he has decided to reframe to exonerate himself from all the challenges that bedevil this economy. He now wants to make digitalization a comfortable area for himself.

Can you consider this person someone who is credible?” Francis Queried.

TWI NEWS