NDC Is Not The Solution

By Michael Addai

Perhaps it is safe to presume that many Ghanaians are, understandably, not satisfied with the latter part of Akufo Addo’s second term in office, mostly because of the present global economic downturn and inflationary pressures, and the government’s unforced errors. However, voting for John Mahama and for that matter the NDC is not the solution for Ghana.

There is no doubt that the economic frustration of many Ghanaians is palpable to the extent that many are tempted to gloss over the remarkable achievements of this government for almost 8 years in office. As a consequence, there is a real danger that these profound, bold, visionary, forward-looking transformative feats, viz., 1). the road and infrastructure developments; the building of interchanges, bridges, dams, hospitals (Agenda 111), airports, local industries/factories, railways, housing, 2). the on-going digitalization drive; Ghana Card, revenue collection, mobile money interoperability, passport processing, drivers’ licensing, digitized health records, 3). the banking sector reforms. 4). the creation of administrative regions; 6 more regions added, 5). the extraordinary management of the COVID-19 pandemic, 6). the introduction of electric buses to augment the mass transportation system, and last but not the least, 7). the signature flagship educational policies; the FSHS and STEM initiatives, are at the risk of being lost on those who are prone to short memory and possibly cannot assuage those utterly despondent.

As already intimated, the present economic downturn is not unique to Ghana and hence Ghana is not immune to the present global inflationary pressures. Even the most stable so-called well-managed developed economies that took the pandemic seriously are going through the same economic crunch and inflationary pressures as Ghana — there was no disputing the fact that economies that were gradually recovering from the effects of the pandemic restrictions were suddenly confronted with high deficits, severe credit crunch, protracted supply chain challenges, high oil prices leading to record high global inflation. To make matters worse, the unthinkable brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia subsequently exacerbated the inflationary pressures on consumer prices all over the world including Ghana.

Shameful Return to IMF

Whilst most Ghanaians understood the origins of the precarious economy and the dire situation that the government found itself in, most expected the government to mobilize local resources by cutting down government and legislative waste. There was this palpable anticipation and expectation of the government to immediately do what it takes to tighten its belt and live within its means especially when it came to government ministers, appointees and legislators to set the right tone and example. For instance, the public would have appreciated the following from the government, 1). the immediate reshuffling of the bloated government, 2). the suspension of the unnecessary ex gratia, per diem etc. payments to government appointees, ministers and the nuisance, unruly parliamentarians whose members flaunt their undeserved and ill-gotten wealth and lifestyles around at a time of real hardship, 3). Not lacking the courage to tackle public sector corruption by prosecuting misdeeds of individuals of the past and present administrations who have caused financial loss to the state, 4). the urgent need to close the tax loopholes, and widening the tax base.

Most of all, what many Ghanaians did not expect the government to do was to lead Ghana back to the IMF after two weeks of soaring pontification of promises and assurances of not doing so by the then chastened finance minister. Most Ghanaians believed that we could ride this economic storm by doing the right things, just as other countries, without resorting to the IMF. So, it was deeply disappointing, and quite frankly provoking, when the government changed course because the touted E-levy policy of generating internal funds was not properly thought through.

People reposed their trust in this crop of NPP leadership not because they believed they could prevent global economic turbulence, they put their trust in them because they believed the NPP government would be different from others in finding solutions to the turbulence and to strive to live above board, and certainly, the NPP was not voted into power to send Ghana back to the IMF no matter the circumstances.

To be sure, it could equally be argued that the events after the pandemic made the situation so bad that it left the government with no choice but to seek IMF rescue. But the counter argument would be that the government did not help itself with its unforced errors by not keeping its house in order, and not doing enough to vigorously get rid of that ‘colonial entitlement culture’ of treating state properties and resources as ‘Business As Usual’, as well as, perhaps most importantly, taking the NPP core supporters for granted.

The apparent lack of seriousness on these issues alone was an indictment on this government, and as such left much to be desired.

It is, therefore, not surprising that some hardcore supporters and sympathizers of the NPP are pondering on sitting it out and not voting in this presidential election, whereas others are considering voting for any alternative candidate in view of the aforementioned background of dissatisfaction.

The Alternative Candidates

Thus, the real alternatives in this presidential election to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, are Movement for Change (M4C) candidate, Alan Kyeremanten, New Force Movement (NFM) candidate, Nana Kwame Bediako, and John Mahama, the candidate for the largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In an ideal world, with his proven, verifiable track record of performance and achievement as a doer in his private life and in all his ministerial positions under the successive NPP governments, the M4C presidential candidate, Alan Kyeremanten, would be a credible, transformational alternative among them all. A real loss to the NPP brand. Realistically, he is likely to make a dent in the NPP strongholds, though unlikely to make any huge impact in the NDC strongholds. And since we are not in an ideal world, voting for him, unfortunately, is likely to suppress the NPP votes and handover the presidency to the NDC.

With his striking youthful exuberance and business acumen, the NFM presidential candidate, Nana Kwame Bediako is an interesting twist for the youth engagement in politics. Nevertheless, he is too flamboyant with his policies to be taken seriously, and too showy for his own good. He is likely to get some votes from the youth but without any known political experience to dwell on, he seems to be too good to be true at this juncture. Yet again, voting for him would likely help the NDC candidate.

Sadly, NDC as an alternative is the most disheartening thing for one to even begin to contemplate. The party’s presidential candidate as an alternative is so dreadful and at best contemptuous to the Ghanaian psyche. It is horrifying to think of a certain John Mahama and his NDC cronies coming back to power after their past disastrous leadership and terrible records in government. These records are there for Ghanaians to see and to be reminded of. Ghana’s past experience with NDC stewardship is far from the rosy picture the party is trying to portray to Ghanaians. The NDC as a party has not changed from its violent, corrupt, greedy and notorious rowdy past. Up till now the party members still go on demonstrations armed to the teeth, provoking and fomenting violence and then turning around to blame the police and others for stoking it. Whenever this party was in office, no attempt, whatsoever, was made to tackle the canker of endemic corruption. The alleged huge profiteering and the epidemic of financial loss to the state from inflated cost of NDC projects in Accra alone from Kotoka International Airport refurbishment, Ridge Hospital renovation to Kwame Nkrumah interchange etc. were not investigated. So was the NDC failure to seek any accountability from the NDC MPs who took double salaries as state ministers, not to mention the numerous scandals that plagued the NDC governance, from Bus branding, Ford Expedition gift, Gyeeda, Sada, NSS, Judicial corruption to the Airbus scandal where a court in London found NDC ‘Government Official 1’ (allegedly John Mahama) to have received millions of dollars in bribes. Impunity was the order of the day.

Further, the NDC administrations were characterized by incompetence that resulted in severe energy failure cum power shortages (known as dumsor), causing the collapse of many industries, factories and businesses. Not only were they incompetent in government, they were also wreckers of worthwhile projects and policies left to them by the previous NPP government. They sabotaged the Kufour’s NPP flagship policy programmes, namely, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which replaced the existing cash-and-carry system, the National Ambulance Service set-up, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Capitation Grant for school children at the basic level. They also undermined the free Maternal Health Care in public hospitals for all expectant mothers, the National School Feeding programme, the Mass transportation system and other notable services. In the absence of any global economic turmoil or meltdown, they managed to drag the country down socially and economically.

The NDC leadership is, clearly, bereft of ideas and has no real solutions to the present economic problems facing the country other than this vacuous, vague, incomprehensible, ridiculous 24-hour economy policy, a policy so disingenuous that the party surrogates cannot even comprehensively explain. Instead of proffering credible alternative solutions to our present economic situation, the party is only interested in tribal politics. One could only imagine the party’s propaganda galore of tribalism if the NPP presidential candidate had been any other than a fellow northerner (didn’t the party propagate the tribalistic nonsense that NPP will never elect a northerner as a flag bearer?). Regrettably, since this party thrives on this ‘colonial entitlement culture’ of looting and sharing state properties and resources, it is engaged in this ‘Business As Usual’ promises of dishing out largesse to its supporters, cronies and sycophants, and echoing the drumbeat of remaining in this IMF bondage. In fact, engaging in incompetence, corruption, tribalism, propaganda, impunity and solace in the IMF was their modus operandi in governing, and the thought of Ato Forson, Aseidu Nketiah and co. in charge of the economy again sends shivers down the spine of many. Simply put, they are incapable of properly governing!

The Case for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

Faced with this reality, there is a forceful case to be made for Dr. Bawumia despite finding himself as flagbearer for a party whose core supporters and sympathizers are disillusioned and disappointed for neglecting them. He has got the ability and a remarkable economic experience to rejuvenate the economy and steer it back on track. He has demonstrated the competence, the determination, the vision, the ability to advance the country further forward. After all, what have the NPP supporters got to lose by voting for him to clear up the mess? However, by either choosing to abstain from voting due to apathy or voting for the other candidates, they have got a lot to lose if the NDC comes to power, because initiatives such as FSHS, STEM, digitization, road/infrastructure developments etc. are all at stake. There is the need to safeguard these laudable programmes.

Therefore, it is imperative that the majority of Ghanaians tread carefully and make haste slowly — ‘Festina lente’ — with their votes this December and vote wisely for the NPP presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for continuity and consolidation of the developmental gains.

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