Embarked on 'apology tour' not 'thank you tour' for 8years of misrule — GFL blasts NPP

The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has strongly criticised the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for embarking on a nationwide "thank you tour", arguing that the party should instead be apologising to Ghanaians for the hardships endured under its previous administration.

According to Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the GFL, the tour is misplaced and tone-deaf given the suffering experienced by many during the tenure of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and former Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

“Most Ghanaians for the past eight years suffered under the government of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and former Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, now you are on a road show thanking us for what?” Mr. Koomson asked.

He recounted the negative impact of policies implemented during the NPP's administration, stating: “Some prominent citizens died as a result of the harsh economic policies, the close down of some banks through a politically motivated banking clean-up, the introduction of nuisance taxes, the E-levy, and other acts."

He further argued that the NPP government created a divided society. “NPP government and leadership for the past eight years created the Ghanaian of NPP origin who enjoyed all the goodness of the land and the other Ghanaian who endured all the hardship in the land,” Mr. Koomson noted.

Mr. Koomson maintained that Ghanaians overwhelmingly rejected the NPP in the last election due to the hardships they endured. He described the party's thank-you tour as “an insult and a sign of insincerity,” given the unresolved challenges and public frustration.

He questioned the motive behind the tour, asking, “if Dr Bawumia and the NPP leadership are thanking Ghanaians for voting against them or what exactly they are thanking Ghanaians for.”

According to him, the NPP continues to demonstrate arrogance even in opposition. “Ghanaians don’t need any thank you from the NPP leadership; we need an explanation, we need an apology, and we need sincere retractions of the insult against our traditional authorities who were humiliated in public.”

He added that Ghanaian investors deserve restitution and called for a complete change in the political approach of the NPP. “We cannot live in two worlds in the same country; the NPP has harmed the Ghanaian, and we deserve an unreserved apology tour, not a thank you tour.”

Mr. Koomson also criticised the NPP's presidential candidate in the 2024 election, former Vice President Dr. Bawumia, for failing to acknowledge the mistakes of the past government. He warned that such an attitude portrays the party as disconnected from the realities of ordinary citizens.

“NPP must retool, reorganise and accept that the leadership of former President Akufo-Addo and former Vice President Dr Bawumia has been the worst government under the Fourth Republic and apologise to all Ghanaians,” he stated.