The ruling National Democratic Congress has abandoned its ‘Better Ghana’ slogan, as it puts up a spirited fight to lay claim to the 2012 Manifesto title of the opposition New Patriotic Party, ‘People Matter, You Matter.’

And the New Statesman has been reliably informed that the NPP is not perturbed at all by ‘the blatant plagiarism’ of its Manifesto title, even to the point of assuring Elvis Afriyi Ankrah and the NDC that they are free to steal the ‘People Matter, You Matter’ as their campaign slogan.

The NDC in last Friday’s edition of two of its newspapers, and corroborated by the deputy Local Government Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, sought to lay claim to the “People Matter, You Matter” slogan as its official campaign slogan.

Mr Afriyie Ankrah again told NDC supporters at the Ododdodiodio constituency during the campaign launch of Nii Lantey Vanderpuye that the party was laying claim to the slogan because with its credentials as a social democratic party, it befits its status more than the NPP.

It is recalled that Paa Kwesi Nduom, CPP Presidential Candidate for the 2008 elections, had his official campaign slogan of “Yere sesamu” stolen by President Mills and the NDC.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Manifesto Committee of the New Patriotic Party, Yofi Grant, has described the NDC’s theft of the “People Matter, You Matter” as an “unbelievable and shameful act.”

“Some of us are surprised the NDC wants to create the impression that people matter to them. To me what matters to the NDC is Woyome and matters of the ordinary Ghanaian don't matter to the NDC,” he noted.

In an exclusive interview with the New Statesman, the NPP Manifesto coordinator said “People Matter, You Matter” stems out of Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision of building a free and fair society of peace, opportunities and prosperity for all Ghanaians, hinged on the transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

“People Matter, You Matter”, according to Mr Yofi, is aimed solely at enhancing the dignity and standard of living of Ghanaians.

According to the NPP man, the title of the Manifesto is a running theme in all chapters of the manifesto, adding that “Leadership matters, education matters, health matters, sports matters etc, are the various headings to the chapters of our manifesto.”

He explained that members of the party’s manifesto committee on the December 5, 2011, at the Little Acre Hotel at Aburi, came to the conclusion that “People Matter, You Matter” should become the title of the party’s manifesto with the sub-theme being “Building a society of opportunities and hope for all.”

Yofi Grant further added that as late as two weeks ago, the leadership of the party met in Koforidua and agreed on the finalized document for the manifesto.

“The economic transformation vision of Nana Akufo-Addo is to put Ghana onto a clear path towards a high income economy and Ghanaians into high income earners. This is why the Manifesto is titled ‘People Matter, You Matter’”, Yofi said.

In explaining how the NDC laid its hands on the manifesto title, Mr Yofi maintained that “The manifesto has been widely circulated so it is not so surprising that the NDC has a copy but what has surprised us is for them to steal it and say it is their slogan. It shows the lack of ideas and creativity.”

Reacting to the NDC’s claim of being a Social Democratic Party and must, as a matter of right, lay claim to the “People Matter, You Matter” theme, he stated that the record of the NDC in government says otherwise.

“For a party that believes in the philosophy of a Property Owning Democracy, we instituted the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty, National Health Insurance Scheme, Capitation grant, School Feeding Programme, MASLOC, among others. We have clearly shown that we are the party that has the people at heart,” Yofi maintained.

The NPP Manifesto Committee Coordinator was, however, not surprised that the NDC had “stolen” another idea from the NPP, as it did the same to the Northern Development Authority concept of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP, only to rename it as SADA.