Mahama’s tour 'glorification of mediocrity' - Ashanti Group

A group calling itself “Ashanti Youth for Change” has described President Mahama’s “Accounting to the people tour” as a "hallmark of mediocrity".

According to the group, “Ghana has become a land of mediocrity crippled by poor governance. President Mahama wants to be hailed for his projects and infrastructure but has forgotten he described infrastructural projects by the NPP government as an exercise in mediocrity. We are reminded of this when we dwell upon John Mahama’s own claims in 2008”.

The president, on his tour across the regions of the country, has been inaugurating projects and promising to do more if re-elected as the nation goes to the polls later in the year, but the Ashanti Youth for Change has said the tour is a campaign mission by the president to “deceive … Ghanaians to [retain] power”.

Below is the full statement:

PRESIDENT MAHAMA’S ACCOUNTING TO THE PEOPLE’S TOUR IS A GLORIFICATION OF MEDIOCRITY

ASHANTI YOUTH FOR CHANGE

For nearly eight years since the NDC recaptured power, it has only been successful in projecting Ghana to be a country, which has mediocrity as its chief hallmark. President Mahama, after failing Ghanaians, is on a campaign mission accounting to the people of his mediocre works with the aim of deceiving the minds of Ghanaians to sustain power. Meanwhile, what we are witnessing today is a record of the higher cost of living, the astronomical increase in utility tariffs, increased rate of unemployment, depreciation of the cedi and more taxes to strangulate the already suffering Ghanaian.

Ghana has become a land of mediocrity crippled by poor governance. President Mahama wants to be hailed for his projects and infrastructure but has forgotten he described infrastructural projects by the NPP government as an exercise in mediocrity. We are reminded of this when we dwell upon John Mahama’s own claims in 2008.

He said: “For the NPP to tell us they have constructed roads, hospitals, bridges, schools, and other projects is an exercise in mediocrity. Every government does these.”

Meanwhile, the President is on a tour presenting to Ghanaians what he has already termed as an exercise in mediocrity. Why should we praise a government, which has had a greater amount of resources at its disposal than any government in the history of Ghana and has only been successful to construct roads, hospitals, schools and other projects while it is its statutory duty to do so?

“From 1960 to the year 2000, total loan agreements signed and that include Akosombo Dam and Kpong Dam, amounted to $10.4 billion. From 2001 to 2007, total loan agreements signed amounted to $4.7 billion. If after all this injection into this economy, today Ghanaians feel even more financially emasculated than they did in the year 2000, then what point do you have asking for a comparison of records” President Mahama said.

The position of President Mahama means that the NDC has financially emasculated Ghanaians than any other government, which has come to power because in the last seven years, alone (excluding 2016), Ghana’s total debt has increased from GhC9.5 billion in 2008 to an estimated GhC99 billion at the end of 2015. In dollar terms, the NDC government has borrowed $40 billion as against $4.7 billion NPP borrowed.

It can be established that the amount of money borrowed by the NDC is not commensurate with their projects because even with the relatively small amount of resources available to the NPP, the NPP, after building schools, roads, hospitals and other projects, went the extra mile to introduce social intervention policies like free maternal care, free basic education, National Health Insurance Scheme, free mass cocoa spraying, school feeding, metro mass transport, youth employment programme, free transport of school children, LEAP among others in the country. The NPP introduced these social intervention policies in addition to its infrastructural projects and we have to commend them for going the extra mile because the entire citizenry benefits from social intervention policies.

IS PRESIDENT MAHAMA REALLY ACCOUNTING HIS RECORDS?

The President is accounting to us the number of hospitals constructed but has failed to account to us the number of nurses, who are unemployed and the capitation in Ashanti, which is killing those in the region.

The President is accounting to us the markets built, but has failed to account to us that the cost of living is high and that people cannot afford to buy things from the market and dumsor is also collapsing businesses.

The President is accounting to us roads constructed, but has failed to account to us the astronomical increase in fuel prices, which is strangulating drivers.

The President is accounting to us the number of schools built, but has failed to account to us the scrapping of nursing and teacher trainees allowances and students, who cannot go to school simply because they can't pay school fees.

The President is accounting to us the jobs these projects will create, but has failed to account to us that there is embargo on employment at a time unemployment is high and increasing.

Aside from these, the President is failing to account to us the corruption in his government, the increase in utility tariffs, the depreciation of the cedi and the state of high indebtedness he has put Ghana in. If President Mahama is not on a campaign mission to sustain power, then he should come to agree with us that the accounting to people’s tour devoted to praising his projects is rather a glorification of mediocrity.

Is it any wonder that the NPP government, with a loan of $4.7 billion, delivered massive projects and transformed the economy from low-income to middle-income, but Ghanaians are suffocating economic hardship under this government at a time Mahama’s NDC government has borrowed $40 billion? Should we continue to suffer economic [hardship] simply because the President is constructing roads, schools and hospitals? These are projects every government does.

It is time for change: A change that will transform the economy of Ghana?

It is time to show the NDC government the exit: A government, which has no clue to fix the broken economy?

It is time to build a new economy: An economy that will relieve Ghanaians from economic hardship?

It is time to vote for NPP to come to power: A party, which will go the extra mile to build industries in every district to reduce unemployment and save the country from economic hardship?

Ghana deserves better.

Vote for the NPP

………SIGNED……….

ADUSEI EMMANUEL (LAZIO)
REGIONAL COORDINATOR

OPOKU MICHAEL (ABEREWABA)
SECRETARY

OWUSU MANU SAMUEL
COMMUNICATION OFFICER