Empty Rhetoric And Misguided Attacks On Mahama Characterized NPP’s Manifesto Launch

For a government that brags about performing better than all others in the history of this country, it was a bizarre spectacle at the Examinations Hall of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) over the weekend, as the event of the manifesto launch of the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s second term bid was insipidly characterized by the usual empty rhetoric and misguided attacks on the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama.

The event, which witnessed an atmosphere in the auditorium that was grossly detached from the kind of euphoria that accompanied NPP’s 2016 manifesto launch, had speaker after speaker touting mediocre performances in various sectors and in some cases, shameless appropriation of achievements of the past John Mahama-led NDC government.

Perhaps the lowest point was when President Akufo-Addo decided to affirm the earlier renditions of his appointees by making former President Mahama the subject of a misguided attack amidst name-calling, reckless innuendoes and unbridled propaganda.

The President sought to question the leadership style of former President Mahama by attacking his mode of selecting a running mate. He also sought to cast doubt on the authenticity of the content of the about-to-be-launched NDC manifesto.

Hear him: “You might remember how long it took the NDC presidential candidate to find a running mate, and they have not yet got a Manifesto. I wonder what will happen the day they have a government to run as well. Or, maybe, it is simply showing the country they do not attach much importance to a Manifesto, nor should we expect that whatever is written in it would reflect their beliefs”.

To the President, the NDC leader took too long in selecting a running mate, a claim most often made by NPP serial callers. This was to give ventilation to his party’s propaganda that former President Mahama is indecisive. How an ‘early’ or ‘late’ selection of a running mate by the NDC and its flagbearer the concern of President Akufo-Addo and his NPP is yet to be explained by them. In any case, Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang’s choice as former President Mahama’s running mate has been hailed by many a political pundit as masterpiece, tactical and politically wise.

The NDC did an intellectual matching of the Akufo-Addo government’s performance against its 2016 manifesto promises and the result has been what the party described as, an abysmal 14 percent delivery. Unfortunately, this is the performance President Akufo-Addo and his NPP are gloating over as unprecedented in the history of Ghana.

The NDC has indicated to the public that it will launch its 2020 elections campaign manifesto this month, August and preparations are far advanced in that regard. Many a Ghanaian is thus wondering what really is going on with their president.

Former President Mahama is undoubtedly one who takes decisions only after he has well thought through them, as against President Akufo-Addo who takes decisions rashly that end up compounding the plight of the suffering masses of the people of Ghana. The different approaches of the two to the implementation of the free senior high school policy and their handling of the banking sector crisis, bears the former President out as the better man for the number one job of this country.

President Akufo-Addo also launched a scathing attack on former President Mahama in describing his predecessor as being deficient in appreciating a good economy performance as is the case under his NPP-led government. The facts however expose President Akufo-Addo as being very dishonest in painting a rosy picture of his government’s poor economic performance, which is set to go down in history as the worst between 1957, when the country attained independence and 2020 when he- President Akufo-Addo- has been in charge.

The Mahama-led NDC government’s performance on the economy was far better than the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government’s, even without COVID.