By Kwadwo Tufuor

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) believes it can win Election 2016 "one touch" based on their "numerous infrastructural development projects".

The leadership has forgotten that infrastructural development has been relegated to the background in Ghanaian politics because of the magnitude of the suffering of the people.

Lies from the government on the number of road construction projects and the number of schools being built don't mean anything to the electorate of today. There hasn't been any improvement in the living standards of the people, the economy is still on a downward trend, prices of all items on the market keep rising, corruption in government circles is on the rise, the gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening, government performance is rated low, and the majority of the people believe Ghana is moving in the wrong direction.

And all of this is happening as millions of oil dollars keep flowing in. (See "Ghana oil proceeds hit US$3 billion" General News of Wednesday, 2 September 2015 Source: Business Day).

Ghanaians aren't stupid, that's for sure. We know the difference between government propaganda and the reality on the ground.

Ghanaians by nature and training do not want to rely on the government for the well-being of our families. We are proud enough to say that we are responsible people who do not rely on the government for improvement in our lives. Which is why the NPP's "Development in Freedom" bug has infected the majority of the voting public.

We, however, expect the government of the day to judiciously use our tax money and foreign exchange earnings to create the favorable economic conditions which promote viable business ventures which in turn bring improvement in our lives.

That is not what we are witnessing in this "yentiee obiara" government of the NDC. Countless businesses have closed down and employees have been laid off, and yet the NDC appointees keep telling Ghanaians more and more about the NDC's "massive infrastructural development" and the "Better Ghana Agenda" fairy tales.

Bear in mind that infrastructural development is seen as belonging to "aban". The people vote based on personal improvement in their living standards, not on infrastructural development.

That is why vote-buying during elections is effective even though the cash and the gifts result in short term improvements in the living standards of the people.

After the overthrow of his government, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is reported to have said that if he had known that Ghanaians desired milk more than infrastructural development, he would have connected pipes into our homes for a regular supply of milk. Too late.

Election 2016 is just over a week away. Ghanaians aren't stupid. We will vote out the incompetent NDC government because "yentie obiara" apart from the NPP and Nana Akufo Addo/Bawumia. Change is surely coming.

Kwadwo Tufuor is a member of the US National Communication Association Honor Society and the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC).