Mahama blames everyone but himself – PPP

President John Mahama must stop shirking responsibility for the current challenges Ghana is grappling with, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has said in a statement signed by National Secretary Murtala Mohammed.

In the PPP’s view, Mr Mahama’s answers to questions posed by journalists at a press conference at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday January 12, were “unimpressive” since, in the Party’s view, the President latched onto excuses to pass the buck.

“President John Mahama is ready to point to every good thing the NDC has done in previous years but frowns on anything bad that is attributed to NDC previous regimes,” the PPP said.

Below is the full statement:

STOP THE BLAME GAME MR. PRESIDENT!

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) is disappointed in President John Mahama for the unimpressive account he gave for his seven-year stewardship at the press conference he held yesterday. He used the press conference to make excuses and blame all others except himself for the current challenges his government is facing, especially corruption, excessive taxation, utility price hikes, microfinance fraud, power crisis, education and national security.

Governments are voted into office to solve the many challenges that bedevil the progress and development of the people. However, successive governments (NDC & NPP) in this country have continued to blame each other on one fault or the other. In the end, they shirk their responsibilities of improving the socio-economic development of the people. John Mahama and the NDC cannot continue to blame their predecessors after seven years in government.

It is unfortunate that the President, having been in power for over seven years, is creating the impression that he has been at the helm of affairs for only three years. President John Mahama is ready to point to every good thing the NDC has done in previous years but frowns on anything bad that is attributed to previous NDC regimes. Prior to the 2012 elections, he was campaigning to continue the good works of President Mills. What has changed to make the President dissociate himself from a government he served as Vice President for close to 4 years? The President cannot deceive Ghanaians on this theory of being in power for only 3 years. As far as Ghanaians are concerned, the President and the NDC government have been in power for seven years.

Corruption:

The PPP is not convinced that the President has the political will to fight and defeat corruption. The unconfirmed 70 million cedis he claims to have retrieved from corrupt officials and their accomplices is paltry when it is estimated that the nation loses up to GHC 3 billion annually to corruption and wastage, is evidence of his lack of interest to fight corruption.

The establishment of an Independent Public Prosecutor’s Office proposed by PPP to deal with corruption surgically remains an important solution to fighting corruption in Ghana. We challenge the President to take action on that to prove his commitment to ending corruption in the country.

Excessive Taxation:

Instead of withdrawing the excessive taxes and apologising for abuse of executive power in imposing tax rates over and above what parliament had approved, the President went on to justify swindling Parliament and the people of Ghana with the imposition of a 27% petroleum tax when the Executive made Parliament believe that they were approving a 5% increment.

While the PPP believes widening the tax net will make the tax burden lighter, we wish to remind the President that taxes are not the only avenues for government revenue. Diligently pursuing good procurement practices such as value for money analysis, cutting waste in government operations, and engaging in good public sector management practices would lead to the avoidance of judgment debts from which the nation could make revenue through saving those monies. The judicious use of a national identification system and better management will lead to revenue enhancement for the state.

Utility Price Hikes

In a period of severe economic challenges, only a non-caring administration will do what President Mahama has done to impose severe hardships on the people and business enterprises. It has been said that the NDC administration has imposed these unjustified price hikes now with the hope that the people would have gotten used to them by election time. We promise President Mahama that price increases, when world crude oil prices are so low, can never be forgotten by us.

Microfinance Fraud

It was disingenuous for President Mahama to blame his political opponents and the victims for the microfinance crisis that has engulfed the nation. The President is in charge of the entire nation, including the security agencies. His administration works with the Bank of Ghana. He must lead in times of crises and solve this problem. When the Americans and Europeans faced their financial crises, their leaders worked and found solutions. They did not cry to the world and seek to vilify the media and others who brought the problems to light. Ghanaians must now know that John Dramani Mahama lives for good times and cannot handle problems.

Power Crisis

The President’s ‘dumsor’ response is unacceptable. The President is aware of the topmost priority of every Ghanaian and cannot refer the matter to technical brains and leave the matter hanging. We need answers from the President himself about his failed promises. We need to know his plans going forward.

National Security and Guantanamo inmates

This propagandist and holier-than-thou attitude of the President, regarding the GITMO prisoners cannot hold. It is but an excuse as usual by politicians to hide behind the veil of religion, looting the masses with impunity. Ghana is a secular country governed by the rule of law, not emotions and religious biases. The President must come clean on the political reasoning and justification for imposing these prisoners on Ghana.

Murtala Mohammed

(National Secretary)