Accra, Oct. 8, GNA - Mr. Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Wednesday accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of plagiarism for stealing the central ideas in the NPP manifesto without out acknowledging them.

He told journalists that even though the NDC had in the past kicked against and called for the abolition of NPP policies and programmes, the NDC had stolen those same policies and put them in their manifesto without admitting that those were NPP policy initiatives.

"Professor Mills implicitly suggested that the NPP deserved a failing grade for its performance in government, but I dare suggested that if a student did what the NDC has done with our manifesto, that student would be charged with plagiarism," he said.

Mr Mac Manu acknowledged that even though plagiarism was a second degree felony and actionable by law, the NPP was too busy with its campaign to take the NDC to court.

He noted that NDC had kicked against policies and programmes such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), School Feeding Programme, Metro Mass Transit System, the Capitation Grant and recently the propose Northern Development Body.

"But in their manifesto they have committed to continuing those policies and programmes with a few irresponsible modifications which threaten to derail those programmes," he said. Mr Mac Manu said the NDC should have been forthright to admit that those were NPP policies instead of creating the impression that they were NDC initiatives.

He also debunked the claim by the NDC that under the NPP there had been marked social exclusion in the country, saying that with the millions of Ghanaians benefiting from all socially oriented programme listed above, that claim could not be the fact. "Under the NPP poverty level has reduced from 39.2 per cent to 28 per cent, national debt has reduced from 189 per cent of GDP under the NDC to 48 per cent of GDP and public workers are being chased by the banks with loans for he first time in the history of the country," he said.

Mr Mac Manu also described as a lie the claim that the economic growth rate in 2007 was 5.8 per cent saying that it was 6.3 per cent and that national debt was 7.8 billion cedis and not 91 trillion cedis as the NDC claimed.

He noted that while all the economic indicators pointed to Ghana reaching the middle income status by 2012, NDC insisted that under their administration Ghanaians would have to wait for eight more years before the middle income target was achieved.

"Obviously the NDC has demonstrated its timidity and lack of ideas to move the country forward in the manner that the NPP has done and we are confident that the people of Ghana will not give them the mandate to run down an economy which is already progressing under NPP," he said. He also chastised former President Jerry John Rawlings for accusing the NPP of glorifying corruption, saying that after 19 years of being head of state, the former president himself admitted that he could not win the fight against corruption. 8 Oct. 08