NDC Will Use Prez Palace

... it will be stupid on our part not to use it The National Democratic Congress (NDC) vice running mate, Hon. John Dramani Mahama, has hinted that Prof. Mills will definitely use the Flagstaff House which is currently under construction as the seat of government, should NDC win the December general elections.

He said since it was state resources that was used to construct the Presidential palace, it would be stupid for the NDC to refuse to use it for the purpose for which it was put up.

Speaking on ‘Good Evening Ghana’ programme on Metro TV, last Tuesday night, John Mahama said NDC still stands by its position that there was no need for the government to waste taxpayer’s money on the Presidential palace adding, “it is a misplaced priority”. He noted that the NDC government would not have embarked upon such a project because some sectors of the economy needed urgent attention.

According to John Mahama, the $60 million that has been spent on the project so far, just for executive comfort, could have been used to provide water, electricity and roads for the ordinary Ghanaian. He noted that despite NDC criticism on the project, they would still use the new Presidential palace as the seat of government should they win power, because it would be wrong for them to refuse not to use it.

John Mahama, further told his host, Paul Adom Otchere, that when the NDC assumes power it would not repeat NPP mistakes by spending lavishly on the executive. Such expenditures, he noted, would be postponed and the money channelled into provision of water, electricity, education and roads. The NDC vice running mate also chastised the government for failing to give credit where it is due. He noted that a number of policies that were put in place by the NDC government led by former President Rawlings, were now bearing fruits but NPP was refusing to give due credit.

According to him it was through the effort of the former Minister of Education, Dr. Ekwow Spio Gabrah and the NDC government that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) was established. He said though NPP did not support the policy, it is the revenue accruing from the GETFUND that they are using to provide infrastructure at the various educational institutions in the country. He claimed that the government had even abandoned the idea of making budgetary allocation to the sector and relying solely on the GETFUND. He also noted that it was through the policy they put in place that has today transformed the telecommunication sector of the economy.

Touching on energy, John Mahama said an Atta Mills’ government would look at the cost build up of crude oil right from the Tema Oil Refinery to the filling stations to ascertain if there were certain inefficiencies that could be eliminated to reduce the cost of production. They would also look at the tax components and see if they could eliminate some of them to make the final product relatively cheaper to the consumer. He also promised that the NDC would set up special oil fund to manage our oil revenue.

He disagreed with his host that Ghana would have struck oil earlier if the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) under the Rawlings government had concentrated on its core activities, instead of investing in non-core areas. He argued that the achievement of the oil find was because the NPP government continued from where NDC left off. Hon. Mahama, who is also the MP for Bole-Bamboi, further argued that Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the GNPC did nothing wrong when he decided to invest in other non core areas. According to him, it was GNPC, under Tsatsu that established Western Telecommunications system (WESTEL) with $10 million.

He said, today WESTEL has been sold to foreign investors at the cost of $100 million, and yet the man who initiated the investment that has now benefited the country is facing trial for causing financial loss to the state.

John Mahama reiterated his position that the NDC government would not witch hunt any member of NPP as had happened in the recent past. On the June 4th 1979 revolution that brought ex-President Rawlings to power, Mahama said he was in the University then when the coup occurred, but revealed that he did not support the killings that accompanied it.

He, however, contended that Ghanaians should not look at only the negative side of that coup but also the positive side, to make fair judgement. He said the late Prof. Adu Boahen did acknowledge in one of his books that the 1979 revolution was a popular one though it had its negative side.