NDC, Beware!

Incumbency is a double-edged sword. It cuts both ways. It can help re-election or can cause defeat. Incumbency alone will not ensure NDC retaining power. The so-called ground-swell sympathy vote following the death of president John Atta Mills is an uncertain asset to bank on. Death under any circumstance, especially, that of Atta Mills is sad and can generate huge sympathy. But as the saying goes, life must go on. That means post Atta Mills-NDC must show convincingly that it deserves another term in office. Die-hard supporters of NDC, NPP, CPP, PPP and other parties will always vote for their party, no matter what. But these committed supporters alone will not, all things being equal, determine the outcome of the December elections. I believe the outcome will be determined by uncommitted voters. These are people who are fairly well educated and are relatively better-off and who will subject the respective parties’ programmes of action to rigorous scrutiny before deciding the party to support. This is where the NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo’s, speech at IEA Encounter (GhanaWeb, 22 August 2012) comes in.
Nana Akufo-Addo’s document has one undoubted value. Although it lacks specificity on many issues, glosses over others and omits altogether some critical areas, it sets the framework for a serious debate among the political parties and the general Ghanaian public of the issues on which the forthcoming elections will be won or lost. That being the case, it is in the interest of the other political parties, especially NDC, as political party in power, directly to attack and pick holes in Nana Akufo-Addo’s programmes line by line, their wrong premise and to propose concrete alternative solutions, supported by facts and figures and progress indicators. That approach will also give them an opportunity to sell their achievements in the last four years. A parallel Addo-type document will only make NDC look weak.
Regrettably, none of the other political parties so far has really taken Nana Akufo-Addo on the way they should, to be able to woo the uncommitted voters. PPP has tried to do that but it has not gone far enough (GhanaWeb, 22 August 2012). PPP rightly takes issue with Nana Akufo-Addo’s laughable approach to fighting corruption, pointing out that his self-assessment that he is not corrupt counts for absolutely nothing. PPP argues that what is needed, among others things, is a strong institutional framework in the form of an independent office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), separate from Attorney General and Minister of Justice. PPP supports Nana Akufo-Addo’s free education policy but disagrees with his cost estimates. But they offer no estimate of their own or where the resources will come from. PPP sought to portray NPP as “stealers” of their ideas or programmes. It would help them to go into those ideas and demonstrate with facts and figures how they would implement them. In general, PPP’s response to Nana Akufo-Addo’s document so far comes across as a document intended principally to sell the party flag-bearer, Dr. Kwesi, Ndoum, as a successful businessman, ergo, a man of presidential timber. Not quite; it takes a lot more to run a country successfully.
NDC’s response so far has been terribly disappointing. The party does not seem to appreciate at all the great opening Nana Akufo-Addo has given them to subject NPP to a critical and in-depth public examination of their programmes. A parallel NDC document, touting their achievements, would be the wrong strategy, unlikely to woo the uncommitted voters. It would make them vulnerable to attack and put them on the defensive, with catastrophic consequences.
NDC communication team member, Mr. Felix Ofosu Kwakey on MULI TV’s Express was reported (GhanaWeb, 22 August 2012) as saying that Nana Addo’s agenda “lacked substance” and contained nothing new” and that it offered Ghanaians no real alternatives. Well, there may be nothing new in the NPP document on issues because Ghana’s old social, economic and governance problems still exist, and, indeed, have become worse under each government. What we do need most is a new breed of bright politicians, with new approaches. Does NDC now have the magic wand? It would help their cause if they told us specifically what they would do differently. Mr. Ofosu Kwakye agrees with Nana Addo’s free education policy (in its entirety?) but disputes his cost calculations. Why doesn’t NDC give us their own cost and how they would fund it. More importantly, is it a policy NDC would consider implementing? If that is so, when? General Secretary of NDC, Mr. Asiedu Nketia, also dismisses Nana Addo’s programmes in similar terms. But I doubt very much whether such responses would convince any uncommitted voter.
All three parties-NPP, NDC and PPP- lay claim to their flag-bearers being instrumental in bringing mobile phones to Ghana. This is absolute trivia. Pursuing this silly issue will not win but cost votes!
Now, I have my own queries regarding some of Nana Akufo-Addo’s programme of action. I am neither a political party nor running for an elective office. I am just an ordinary uncommitted voter. My comments will be selective and brief, I hope! First, ideology is fundamental to political and economic action. Without an ideology a political party is like a rudderless ship. It drifts aimlessly, buffeted by the elements. The New Oxford Dictionary of English defines “ideology” as “as a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory or policy.” A “system” is “a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.” Nana Addo appears to have ditched the NPP ideology of “building a property-owning democracy” in favour of “creating society of opportunities,” which sounds populist.
In the 2nd Danquah Institute organized Liberty Lectures at Accra (GhanaWeb, 17 August 2012), under the theme: “Development in Freedom: Empowering The People To Develop The Nation,” former president John Kufour declared in the presence NPP stalwarts, including Nana Akufo-Addo and party chairman Jake Obestebi Lamptey, that building a property-owning democracy was “the core philosophy of the NPP” He argued that the “module” had worked in China where adoption of home-ownership had worked positively for the country, where huge cities had been transformed from slums, adding that the concept of a property-owning democracy was not elitist but it was about “spreading wealth.” (Jake and other NPP elitists around must have blushed, as they are beneficiaries of the sale by the Kufour government on the cheap of state property. Is this their idea of “spreading wealth”?) Is the China “module” for creating a property-owning class, accompanied or dictated through the suppression of human and other freedoms, forced evictions without compensation by the Communist Party Politburo, the ideological route Nana Akufo-Addo and want to take Ghana? We need to know.
Second, Nana Addo talks of the increasing cost of fishing equipment and inputs as frustrating fishermen. Here, I think he puts a political spin on the issue. I come from a fishing village and I know better. The real problem faced by the industry is lack of fish stock to harvest. Our seas are empty of fish, mainly because Chinese, Japanese, Russian and other foreign trawlers for decades have been harvesting fish stock within our territorial sea and economic zone with impunity. Successive Ghanaian governments have been powerless or unwilling or just too timid to do anything about it. Where are the Ghanaian Navy and our gun boats? Additionally, we should research ways to restock our coastal waters. If fishermen can catch enough fish, they should have no problem meeting the cost of fishing equipment and inputs. These are the real problems. Can Nana Addo tell us how he will address them?
Third, Nana Addo tells us he will “help build a prosperous society” where, inter alia, there are safety nets for the vulnerable and decent retirement for the elderly.” This policy sounds good. Nonetheless, it leaves one wondering its specific implementation. Will the scheme cover only people who retire from government service? What is the specific problem with existing government retirement scheme that NPP thinks needs improvement? How about people who retire from the private sector and how does NPP propose to change their lot for the better? Obviously, this policy has cost implications. How does NPP propose to fund it?
Fourth, Nana Akufo-Addo says he is “determined to fight corruption aggressively” because he “is not corrupt” and he will demand the same from his team. Surely, Nana Addo cannot be serious! He was a member of John Kufour’s government, and we all know the level of corruption at the time. I strongly support the PPP position, namely, we must have independent office of DPP. That is the only way to put teeth into existing legislation. I, a humble uncommitted voter, challenge all political parties to include the post of independent DPP in their manifesto, with a pledge to introduce the necessary legislation for amending the Constitution, within three months of assuming power. This would be more credible and a vote winner!
Fifth, Nana Addo has made education his major political plank, saying “we will redefine basic education and make it compulsory from kindergarten to senior high school” and it shall be free. The same applies to technical and vocational institutions. Again, very few people will argue against the principle. However, affordability and effective implementation raise a few questions. For a start, NPP’s cost estimates are widely disputed. Do we need an independent body to study the cost implications? Nana gives his sources for funding, and can he assure us that he will not raise taxes to provide cushion for this programme? What does “redefine education” really mean in practice? Will it entail a new curriculum and a change in the duration of SHS? If that is so, is this not a matter all political parties should sign on to, so that future in-coming governments do not start undoing everything, as has been the practice in the past, to the detriment of progress and welfare of young Ghanaian students? How many new universities does NPP plan to build to absorb the enormous increase in SHS student numbers who may qualify for university entry? What specific arrangements does NPP envisage making with private universities to take some of the load off the public universities? Is the cost of these included in the NPP estimates?
Sixth, we can all agree that our teachers deserve support or incentives. Nana’s proposal, among other things, is that teachers “with 10 or more years of service will be eligible for a mortgage scheme, supported by government, for a home anywhere in the country.” How is the mortgage scheme to be instituted: private cum public? What form will government’s “support” take? In short, what will be the financial implications for the government?
Seventh, Nana Addo rolls out several ways in which he plans to “grow” the economy. He plans, among other things, to assist “all our enterprises, especially small and medium scale ones, both formal and informal, to grow by helping them gain access to credit, technology and markets.” At present, the main source of capital for businesses is financial institutions which are mostly private, and their interest rates are prohibitive. So, how will Nana Addo arrange access to credit? Is he planning to set up a government lending institution in competition with private financial institutions to provide low interest loans? If government will provide some of the funds under this scheme, how does he plan to recover the loans in the event a beneficiary business fails? Equally important, what transparent criteria will he put in place for determining which enterprises and owners are assisted to have access to credit. We need to know now. Related to that is Nana’s promise that “Ghanaian businesses will play the lead role in public procurement.” This is all fine but I doubt its fair implementation. All previous governments without exception supported or awarded government contracts to only party affiliates, families of ministers and other government functionaries and their cronies. This is one area most open to corruption, yet Nana Akufo-Addo has refused so far to commit NPP to creating the post of independent DPP to fight corruption! Nana, your credibility on fighting corruption is at stake!!
In that connection, mention may also be made of Nana Akufo-Addo’s assertion that he has “a deep pool of talent of men and women in the NPP to draw from, as well as from the broad spectrum of Ghanaian talent, home and abroad” to help him implement his programmes for Ghana. Here, experience teaches us that incoming governments not only ignore talents from outside their party. They actually sack existing talent perceived to be sympathetic to the outgoing government. Moreover, there is this nonsense that party activists, the so-called foot soldiers, must “eat”, or “chop” when their party is in power. That is to say, these people must be given jobs or government contracts, irrespective of their ability or qualification. Family members of high ranking government officials and cronies are also placed in jobs for which they have no qualification other than their connection. Such practice discriminates amongst Ghanaians, contrary to our Constitution. It also deprives the country of valuable expertise and institutional memory. The late president Atta Mills tried to reverse that perverse practice by asking a large number of Kufour government appointees to remain in their posts. Rawlings shamelessly blasted and lambasted the late Atta Mills for trying to do the right thing by placing the interests of Ghana above NDC interests. Can Nana tell us what foolproof measures he plans to institute to put an end to this illegal and insane practice?
Eighth, Nana is right to argue that “the current size and structure of our economy is not big enough to provide jobs that are needed.” Ghana’s economy is dominated by the informal sector, service providers and financial institutions. Manufacturing industry is virtually non-existent, and there is a need to rebalance our economy by boosting industry. Nana Akufo-Addo proposes to do this by boosting consumption of locally manufactured goods, inter alia, by encouraging “importers and Ghanaians abroad to shift from bringing in finished products to bringing in the know-how, tools and capital inputs that will enable us to produce finished goods right here in Ghana.” This solution seems as simplistic as it is inadequate to the problem. At the moment China takes advantage of its lucrative oil and road construction contracts with Ghana to dump all kinds of sub-standard and toxic goods into the country. How does Nana propose to counter this? There is also a Ghanaian attitudinal problem. Any imported goods from America, Europe or Asia must by definition be superior to locally manufactured goods. How does Nana Addo plan to overcome this intangible but real attitudinal problem?
Ninth, Nana Addo rightly highlights the importance of infrastructure-power, roads railways, etc. He projects an expenditure of GHC14 billion a year for the next decade. Nana can enhance his credibility by telling us how many miles of roads and rail tracks he proposes to update, complete or build, and the time-frame? Whatever happened to the railway upgrading and expansion project under the Kufour government for which funding was secured and contracts signed? Nana’s programme for power security makes no mention of solar power. But this deserves serious consideration. A small country like Botswana introduced solar power in homes as far back as early 1980’s. Initial cost may be high. In the long-run, solar power will become cheaper and more dependable.
There are a couple of important areas on which Nana Akufo Addo’s document is silent. One, at the moment the public sector is the highest formal employer in Ghana: ministries, schools, hospitals and clinics, etc., etc. The salaries, pension and other benefits represent a huge drain on the Treasury. Can Nana tell us whether he plans to reduce public pay roll and how? Two, surprisingly Nana mentions nothing about tax. But it is true that an efficient and transparent tax system is of fundamental importance to a country’s economic and social development. Can Nana tell us how he intends to improve the collection of rates of income tax, VAT and local property taxes? Three, Nana’s programmes are silent about the relentless surge and impact of climate change on our life and environment. Sea erosion is seriously threatening some coastal areas of Ghana. All these phenomena impact negatively one way or the other on quality of life, productivity and our environment.

Finally, some of the attributes Nana Akufo-Addo touts as qualifying him for president of Ghana are plain ridiculous. He claims that as a lawyer he “mentored many young people who are now among the leading lawyers of our country.” On that criterion, our university lectures and professors who have taught thousands of students in their career a far greater claim to seek election as president!

Cedric Tsuo