The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says President Mahama’s decision to participate in the IEA Presidential Debate smacks of hypocrisy and deceit.

A statement signed by the party’s Communication Director, Nana Akomea, said: “The NDC government gave several reasons for their boycott of the IEA debate. Ghanaians were told that the IEA has no credibility; that the IEA is a partisan body; that the organizers are all stooges of another political party; that the IEA Platform is not effective and potent; and that the NDC government had its own platforms to engage with Ghanaians; that by convention, no sitting president had taken part in IEA presidential debates in the fourth republic.”

It would be recalled that the NDC under the late President J.E.A. Mills decided not to participate in the Presidential Debates because in the past, no sitting president had participated in the debates.

But last week, the NDC rescinded its decision to boycott the debate after several meetings with officials of the IEA. The party’s new flagbearer, President Mahama, finally decided to participate in the debate in order to tell his own story to the public.

But the NPP says there is more to it than meets the eye.

The party said “the NDC grossly insulted the integrity of the IEA, and the integrity of the organizers of the debates, which includes eminent citizens of this country such as, Mr. Emile Short, Pastor Mensah Otabil, Prof. Efua Sutherland Addy, Prof. Stephen Addai and others.”

The NPP is therefore asking if the reasons given for the NDC’s decision to boycott the debate earlier has been buried with the late President Mills.

Nana Akomea stressed that the “U-turn should not be surprising to the many Ghanaians who expect nothing better from the NDC than this two-faced approach to governance.”

The party is calling on the government to tell the public the true reason for the earlier decision to boycott and the U-turn.

Below is the Full Statement

The NDC announced last week that President Dramani Mahama will take part in the IEA Presidential debates.

This U-Turn and the reasons given for it juxtaposed with the reasons given earlier for boycotting the IEA once again exposes the hypocritical and deceitful governance style of the NDC.

The NDC government gave several reasons for their boycott of the IEA debate.
Ghanaians were told that the IEA has no credibility; that the IEA is a partisan body; that the organizers are all stooges of another political party; that the IEA Platform is not effective and potent; and that the NDC government had its own platforms to engage with Ghanaians; that by convention, no sitting president had taken part in IEA presidential debates in the fourth republic.

Thus the NDC grossly insulted the integrity of the IEA, and the integrity of the organizers of the debates, which includes eminent citizens of this country such as, Mr. Emile Short, Pastor Mensah Otabil, Prof. Efua Sutherland Addy, Prof. Stephen Addai and others.

With the NDC’s u-turn on IEA, the question Ghanaians ask is, have the issues that led to the NDC’s boycott gone away with the demise of president Mills and the succession of John Mahama as president?
Is the IEA platform now credible? Is the IEA now full of men and women of integrity, who are not partisan?

The NDC general secretary has attempted some explanation..; Mahama is only a “caretaker president” who has not won an election. This is even more laughable. Does John Mahama being a “caretaker president” make him less of a sitting president?

Does it make the IEA credible now? Does it take away the numerous platforms that the NDC boasted about?

This U turn should not be surprising to the many Ghanaians who expect nothing better from the NDC than this two-faced approach to governance.

We urge the NDC to apologise to the IEA and its worthy members for the gratuitous insults and denigration heaped upon them.

In the meantime, the NDC should show a little honesty by telling Ghanaians the real reasons for the boycott and the real reasons for their U-Turn.

SIGNED

Nana Akomea
Director of Communications