Today in History: Mahama can’t help Ghana - Akufo-Addo

On this day, we revisit crucial remarks made by the then-flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, regarding the leadership of then-President John Mahama.

Seven years today, President Nana Akufo-Addo spoke at an NPP branch meeting held in Paris where he expressed his profound scepticism towards President Mahama's ability to steer Ghana towards progress, asserting that the current leader lacks vision for the nation's advancement.

According to Akufo-Addo, while neighbouring countries have experienced remarkable strides in development over the past five years, Ghana, under President Mahama's stewardship, has regrettably witnessed a decline in its fortunes.

These comments shed light on the sharp political discourse surrounding the future direction of Ghana and the stark differences in ideologies between the NPP and the ruling government at that time.

Read the full details and the 2016 story published on GhanaWeb on Sunday, May 29, 2016, below:

The New Patriotic Party flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, said President John Mahama has no vision for the forward movement of Ghana, and, as such, cannot be trusted to turn around Ghana’s dwindling fortunes.

Speaking at an NPP branch meeting in Paris, on Saturday, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that whilst some neighbouring countries have made giant strides in the last five years, Ghana, however, within the same time frame, and under the leadership of President Mahama, is going backwards.

“Cote d’Ivoire, five or six years ago was coming from civil war. The election in 2010 led to 100,000 displaced people, and 3,000 people were killed as a result of the election between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara. In five years, because of good, strong leadership, Cote d’Ivoire is today the number one investment destination in Africa. They are growing at 9% a year and we are growing at 3.9%. Last year, Cote d’Ivoire earned over $12 billion in exports of its agricultural products. At the same time, we earned $2 billion,” he said.

“We have to change these statistics. John Dramani Mahama cannot help us,” he stressed.

The NPP flagbearer outlined four “simple” reasons why Ghana cannot continue under President Mahama, and “why this man cannot help us”.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, firstly, “in the 2012 manifesto of the NDC, they promised that over the next four years, i.e. between 2012 and 2016, they were going to grow the economy at an average of 8%. Last year we did 3.9%.”

Again, quoting from the 2012 NDC manifesto, which states that “the NDC’s commitment is to increase the contribution of the manufacturing and industrialization sectors to our economic development”, the NPP flagbearer indicated that “last year, the manufacturing sector grew at -1.9%”, whilst “mining grew at -3.18%.”

On education, Akufo-Addo again referred to the 2012 NDC manifesto, which promised the construction of “two hundred (200) new Community Day Senior High Schools across the country” by the end of 2016. Up to date, he noted that President Mahama has only been able to commission 5, with a few months to the end of 2016.

“The fourth reason - When Kufuor was leaving office in 2008, the food import bill for our country was $600 million. Mills and Mahama criticized Kufuor for his performance and they promised to reduce it. Last year, the food import bill of our country was $1.5 billion. We are now importing plantain into Ghana! Agriculture, which in Kufuor’s last year was growing at 7.4%, this last year was 0.04%. These are the facts about Ghana, they are not my inventions. You look at the official and budget statistics, you’ll find it there,” he said.

He added: “The mismanagement (of the economy) is the reason why, today, we are back with the IMF. We are going to change the fortunes of our country, and put it back on the road of prosperity and progress.”

Nana Akufo-Addo assured that gathering that the NPP’s main focus, under his leadership, will be the revival of Ghana’s industry, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, which will be key towards generating the hundreds of thousands of jobs required by the teeming masses of unemployed Ghanaian youth, as well as return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity.

“Apart from the plan and the programme, we have the human resources, both at home and abroad, amongst you, that can give our country a first-class government to be able to lead our country forward. It is not right that in the 21st century, our people are still defecating in public. It is not right. We are going to change these facts about Ghana,” he added.

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