NPP to win convincingly – New EIU report

The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has yet again predicted victory for the opposition New Patriotic Party in the 2016 elections, this time, a convincing one.

The Unit in April released the report of a survey that suggested the NPP would win the upcoming elections by a close margin.

But, according to a new report released Thursday, the presidential and parliamentary elections in December are likely to be acrimonious but the NPP will turn out victors with a convincing margin.

The report says the discontent over adverse economic conditions in the country is likely to cost the ruling party the elections.

The report comes at a time the country is still reeling under a four-year-old power crisis which has affected businesses and led to loss of lives and jobs. The combined effect of an increase in taxes, utility prices have all the more made the cost of living high for many Ghanaians.

The EIU says "pre-election spending in 2016 will put pressure on the fiscal deficit target set in conjunction with the IMF, although the government will be more successful at resisting large-scale populist spending than in previous election years."

Threats of violence

The report minced no words about the possibility of violence in the upcoming elections. It said the elections will expose Ghana to notable risks, some of which will come from outside.

With the reports of corruption in the country's judiciary and the experiences in the 2012 election petition, the report suggests none of the parties will be interested in going to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict of the election, a situation that has raised political tensions a notch higher. 

The representatives of the two parties mentioned in the reports have predictably praised portions of the report and condemned portions of as well.

The New Patriotic Party's Moustapha Hamid said he and his party did not need the report of EIU to know that the governing party will be humiliated in the upcoming elections.

He said he just returned on a five regional tour with the party's running mate and can say without any equivocation "that there is no way the NDC will beat us." "I have been involved in political campaigns since 2004 but have never seen this groundswell of support for the NPP," he said, adding, "this is the year the people of Ghana are ready to change course."

A Deputy General Secretary of the governing NDC, Koku Anyidoho, said the report is inconsistent.

He wondered how the report will suggest that the ruling government is not doing well with the economy but conclude any party that wins the elections will inherit a stable economy ready for a take-off.

He said the president has done a good job began by the late President John Mills, and the people of Ghana will give him another term to complete his job.