On the sidelines of the #FixTheCountry discourse

Few years ago, specifically in May 2014, during John Mahama's presidency, when Ghanaians were complaining about inflation and depreciation of the cedi, government under John Mahama organized a national policy forum, which later came to known as the Senchi Consensus.

It was an event that brought together Ghanaians from different social, religious, political, and economic backgrounds to deliberate on the issues of concern and agree on the way forward. President Mahama and the late Vice President Kwesi B. Amissah-Arthur actively led the government side in the deliberations.

That three-day policy forum resulted in the adoption of broadly accepted home-grown policies later backed by the international community. Of course, the Senchi Consensus did not solve all our problems, but many Ghanaians left the dialogue feeling they have been respected and offered a chance to listen and be heard.

Now, in yet another May, this time in 2021 under Akufo-Addo's presidency when Ghanaians complained about high cost of living, frequent increases in fuel prices, increases in taxes and general hardship, and asked the government to fix the problems, Akufo-Addo and his appointees responded by asking Ghanaians to fix their attitudes and stop complaining.

Now, it is yours to judge which of the two political parties has been serious about transforming Ghana, and which of the two gentlemen has the needed democratic temperament worthy of the presidency.

Make no mistake, the NDC and the NPP are not the same. The NDC makes no claim to being perfect, not at all. But recent political experiences in Ghana show that the NDC is by far a better political party, made up mostly of modest and well-meaning people with a genuine desire to promote our collective wellbeing.

With all its imperfections, the NDC appears better at 'doing' and poor at 'talking'; and the NPP with all its claim to competence and perfection, seem good at 'talking' and poor at 'doing'. It is therefore unfair to assume or claim that the NDC and the NPP are the same. They are not!

Under NDC a minister resigned for simply nurturing a desire to make some good money from her position. Under NPP a minister caught in fraudulent visa deals was cleared by Nana Addo and allowed to stay in office; under NDC ministers signed performance contract upon taking office, under NPP ministers were appointed without key performance indicators leaving most of them cluelessly lost.

Under NDC government invested heavily in building schools, hospitals, and housing to expand access to social services, under NPP government has haphazardly implemented a free senior education policy that has imposed series of social cost on the beneficiaries and their families. That policy began under the NDC in an incremental manner but the NPP threw caution to the wind and rolled the policy out nationwide without any plan. We are all witnesses to the state of SHS education in Ghana now.

NDC created an environment for free speech and expression and allowed media Houses and journalists to be as critical of government policies as they could. Under NPP, media Houses were closed down for being critical of the government, journalists were attacked and some killed for doing their lawful work, and others forced out of job for daring to speak truth to power.

This 2021 is NPP's fifth year in power, and the list of corruption-related scandals registered under Nana Addo and Bawumia are not only mind-blowing, they also make any talk of corruption under NDC pale into insignificance. Yet, unlike the NDC that takes actions on any such cases, the NPP simply talks its corruption cases away with an arrogant sense of entitlement.

So just in case you are wondering, the NDC is not perfect, and it makes no such claim. John Mahama is human and he makes no claim to superhuman qualities. But the NDC has nationalist vision. One that is shaped by a strong desire to create opportunities for all. It is a caring and tolerant political party.

It is certainly a better place for all who love and care about Ghana, all who wish to be treated equally, and all who hope that their ethnic affiliation, religion, economic status, professional background, and social class will not be the determinant of their place in society.