The 2012 Vice-Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says one unique feature that differentiates his party from that of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is the fact that they are realists and optimists while the ruling party are pessimists.

To him, for the NDC to posit that the free Senior High School education policy being espoused by the NPP is not feasible, clearly indicate that they have no faith in the capabilities of the ordinary Ghanaian.

“…The difference between us and the NDC is that we are thinking in terms of economic transformation; we think in terms of possibilities, the NDC thinks in terms of impossibilities. They say that they will wait for 20years to (implement the free SHS education policy)...but Ghana cannot wait that long. We are going to provide it for them now; 2013 September…The governance performance of the NDC is not very satisfactory and that is why a lot of people want a new direction and hope and we are going to give them that hope in terms of the policy and solutions for their problems,” he said.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi, on Peace FM’s morning show, ‘Kokrokoo’, Dr. Bawumia, who is currently touring the Northern Region after rounding off an 8day tour of the Brong Ahafo Region, reiterated that the free SHS education is “really not a difficult policy and I don’t even understand why people think that it is difficult. In terms of arithmetic and economics, it is very simple to implement it. We’ve done the background work and it is really not complicated”.

Dr. Bawumia also touched on the Zongo Development Fund (ZDF), a proposed fund to be set aside by the NPP to support Zongo communities in the country. According to him, the NPP will ensure that the fund, the first of its kind to be instituted for Zongos which will roll in September 2013, should the NPP regain power, would never run out of resources in order to meet the needs of the community.

“…the Zongos have been marginalized for a very long time. If you visit any Zongo community, you will realize that they have a long way to go in terms of development. We intend to implement it very quickly...At the moment, we will sit down and workout the detail and put in the financing for it from the budget. It is an issue of prioritization. It is a priority and we will find money for it…” he asserted.