Some of us skimmed through Ex-President Mahama’s speech during the NDC’s 27th-anniversary lecture with unbelievable horror and extreme incredulity (see: ‘We are not the same as the NPP; we stand by the truth – Mahama; yen.com.gh/ghanaweb.com, 23/06/2019).
The former president is reported to have poured his heart out: “We are not the same as the NPP. We have always stood by the truth. We have not told false promises just because we want political power. We tell the people exactly what we can do for them and when we come into the office, we make our best effort to deliver exactly what we said we can do for them.”
To be quite honest, former President Mahama is not entirely correct for asserting somewhat confidently that NDC is an honest party, and NPP is not.
Well, if anything at all, some of us can forgive Mahama for the oversight, because to err is human. After all, as a descendant of biblical Adam, the former president is susceptible to human foibles.
And, in contrast to Ex-President Mahama’s assertion some time ago, not all Ghanaians suffer from chronic memory loss, after all, and therefore can vividly recall the NDC’s previous broken Manifesto promises.
So, we would like to humbly remind the former president that NDC could not have been the honest party, if broken Manifesto promises are anything to go by.
Believe it or not, there have been numerous NDC’s broken Manifesto promises, but the one that has stencilled on discerning Ghanaians mental sheets to date is the one-time NHIS premium.
That promise, so to speak, was destitute of honesty and integrity. So, who tells former President Mahama that NDC is an honest party?
The likes of former President Mahama must stop living in a denial over the seemingly fallacious claim that their political opponents gave juicy promises to Ghanaians which caused their humiliating defeat and embrace the fact that, the dreadful errors in judgement which brought about untold hardships rather accounted for their humiliating 2016 election defeat.
In fact, it gives some of us the energy and the reason to confuse the obvious misconception when the experienced politicians like former President Mahama keep holding on to vague rhetoric with a view to misinforming the unsuspecting public.
Dearest reader, tell me, isn’t it quite ironic that despite all the harsh economic conditions amidst corruption allegations (Bus branding, Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, NCA, Ford Expedition Vehicle, amongst others), the likes of former President Mahama can still muster the courage and aim accusing fingers at Akufo-Addo of promising the electorates heaven which led to his humiliating 2016 election defeat?
The truth is, some of us are struggling to get our heads around how and why former President Mahama would expect a government that has been in power for less than three years to honour its entire Manifesto promises.
What is more bizarre though, is that it was the same Ex-President Mahama who claimed that they, (NDC government), had carelessly consumed all the meat on the bone.
Former President Mahama was apparently referring to Ghana’s unprecedented economic meltdown as a result of mismanagement and rampant corruption under his watch.
Therefore it is extremely bizarre to keep hearing and reading from the former president who wilfully collapsed the once thriving economy shouting from the roof top about the supposedly slow pace of development, barely two and half years of NPP government assuming power.
How could a leader who wilfully throw Ghana’s economy deeper and deeper into the mire in eight years turn around and accuse his successor of not turning things around quickly in barely two and half years in office?
In fact, it was the same former President Mahama who spent above his means, and, in the process needlessly increased our total debt from GH9.5 billion in 2009 to GH122.4 billion as of December 2016 with a little to show for.
This means that there was virtually no money left in the national purse for the incoming Akufo-Addo’s government to turn things around quickly.
Thus, it is quite bizarre that Ex-President Mahama would expect the Akufo-Addo’s government to keep all the Manifesto promises within such a short space of time.
But that said, despite all the economic mess left by the erstwhile Mahama’s ambivalent administration, the current NPP government under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo has commendably undertaken a number of social interventions.
Since assuming power, Akufo-Addo’s government has taken estimable strides to improve the social mobility gap through implementation of poverty reduction policies such as Free SHS, one district one factory, one million dollars per constituency, tax reductions, a dam per village in the northern part of Ghana, Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), among others.
It is also worth stressing that in spite of the huge economic mess created by the outgone Mahama government amid stunted economic growth, the Akufo-Addo’s government has efficiently raised the economic growth from a nauseating 3.4 per cent as of December 2016 to around 8.6 per cent within a short space of time.
Upon taking office, the Akufo-Addo government has reversed the inflation rate to a little over 9 per cent from a little over 15 per cent as of December 2016.
Clearly, President Akufo-Addo and his government are graciously delivering on their Manifesto promises to the delight of the vast majority of Ghanaians.
Frankly stating, if President Akufo-Addo and his government managed to fulfil all those promises, trust me, it would be an illustrative case of “heaven on earth”
If former President Mahama really cares to know, apart from the one-time NHIS premium, we can pinpoint countless broken Manifesto promises in the past.
Dearest reader, if you may remember, prior to the 2008 and 2012 general elections, Ex-President Mahama and his NDC made a number of Manifesto promises to Ghanaians. But as to whether they honoured those promises, is a million dollar question.
Indeed, during the 2008 and 2012 general elections, Mahama and the NDC gave a slew of Manifesto promises, including one-time NHIS premium, free SHS, ‘making dumsor a thing of the past, putting money in Ghanaians pocket, creating more jobs for the jobless, stabilising the economy, protecting Ghanaians from the menaces of galamsey and Fulani herdsmen, bringing an end to dubious judgement debt payments, fighting the rampant sleazes and corruption amongst others.
Regrettably, however, after giving all those richly interesting, albeit unrealistic promises with a view to deceiving Ghanaians for their mandate, the NDC government, led by former President Mahama, as expected, woefully failed to honour the promises, and, consequently, a total of 55.6 per cent (44.4 for Mahama) of the electorates rightly voted them out of power in 2016.
In retrospect, the Mahama government failed terribly to initiate expedient policies to overturn the failed policies of agriculture, poverty reduction and resource allocation in the areas of healthcare, education, finance, supply chain management and security sector planning, amongst others.
If the preceding facts and figures are anything to go by, then it is incorrect for former President Mahama to claim that NDC is an honest party that delivers on its Manifesto promises at all times.
Columnist: Kwaku Badu