Opinions of Monday, 21 September 2020

Columnist: Kwaku Bimpeh

The NDC’s 2020 manifesto is an empty tank for Ghana

Former President John Dramani Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama

Nothing surprises more at all these days as the NDC still has the guts to campaign against the NPP’s record of governance, leadership and accountability. I was expecting something more substantive and refreshing from the NDC’s manifesto, but it only feels and sounds like a complete empty tank to say the least.

To be honest some of the policies of the NDC are dead on arrival. Policies such as on Okada, Free SHS, double-track system and job creation.

Many people who uses Okada, regardless of the dangers it possess, do so because they feel they have no alternative. According to the National road safety Campaign in Ghana, accidents related to Okada accounts for 27.7 percent of all road crashes in Ghana in 2018, costing millions in damages and health care. The solution is what the NPP government is providing, jobs jobs jobs. The one district one factory with over 58 brand new factories to their credit, the birth of jobs for Ghanaians, and the evolution of the automobile industry in Ghana under the NPP government alone will lead the exponential growth in jobs in Ghana, where there will be no need for Okada. The automobile industry in the UK contributes £87million to the British economy in a year while it added $545billion to the USA economy last year. The potential is huge, and with the interest of such strong conglomerates like Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Sinotrack among others the future is bright for Ghana.

The stability and continuity of the Free SHS, a nationwide policy that has been the envy of many countries across the globe, is very threatened by the NDC. This policy has allowed the highest number of Ghanaian children (over 1.2 million children) access to education like never before, and has saved Ghanaian parents an amount of over GH 2.2 billion cedis in school fees. Brilliant to say the least!

The controversial double track system, in all its glory, presented an opportunity of a life time and supported over 400,000 Ghanaian children to gain access to some of the best schools Ghana, without which they would have never had that opportunity.

The most laughable of all the policies is the claim to create a million jobs in their first term. In 7 years the NDC according to their own green book created 367,000 jobs, how on earth are they ever going to manage this policy? Or they are planning the back of the successful job creation polices already started by the NPP administration.

The NPP after taking over from the mess created by the NDC has managed to uplift every sector of the economy and has planned for every aspect of society being it zongo development, disability rights, women rights, looking after the poor in society and many more. The development of Ghana is on track for a major take off and there is more to be done, the more reason why we need 4 more years for Nana to do more for you. Let’s not derail the journey that has started so well after the mess left by the NDC administration not long ago.

Long live Ghana, Long live the NPP. 4 More for Nana.

NPP UK Deputy Director of Communications, communications@nppuk.org