Elections not do and die affairs -Mrs. Bawumia

MRS. SAMIRA Bawumia, wife of New Patriotic Party's (NPP) vice presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has stated that despite the fact that people perceived the upcoming elections to be crucial, “it's not a do or die affair.”

According to her, the democracy that Ghana had chosen to practice was not about fighting, but a contest of ideas. Speaking at Juapong and the Ho Polytechnic, as part of her two-day tour of the Volta Region, Mrs. Samira said, “Democracy is not about do or die.”

Ghana, she said, was on a threshold of economic transformation under NPP in the next government, and that history will not judge Ghanaians right, if they do not vote for the NPP.

Sounding quite emotional, Mrs. Bawumia asked, “Why don't you vote for NPP? Change that now. We are the only party that cares for you,” she claimed.

She urged Ghanaians to “vote for Nana Akufo-Addo to continue the good works.”

The wife of Dr. Bawumia mentioned the School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme, the free ante-natal care for pregnant women, and said, “What else do you need from a government that provides you with these programmes?”

She contended that other parties, which had promised to continue the programmes of the NPP, were only playing politics with the continuity, and questioned why they failed to develop the nation and improve upon the living standards of Ghanaians, when they were in office before the NPP took over.

At the Ho Polytechnic, Samira accused Prof. John Evans Atta Mills of not understanding the GDP contribution to the private sector.

“The last presidential debate, when Nana Akufo-Addo was presenting his ideas of modernizing the country, Prof. Mills did not even know what the GDP contribution to the private sector was,” she alleged.

Madam Samira also laughed off the comparison the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was making between their presidential candidate, Prof. Mills, and the US president-elect, Barack Obama.

“How can you present a twice defeated person as an Obama of Ghana politics… we have come a long way, and we will not jeopardise our future,” she said.

Dr. Bawumia's wife was confident that the voting pattern in the Volta Region would change in this year's elections. She assured them of free and fair elections, and pleaded with them to be circumspect in their utterances. “We don't need to fight…look at Kenya and Zimbabwe, we have to be an example for others to follow,” she said.

On those who are yearning for power sharing, Mrs. Bawumia said, “It's unconstitutional and it can't happen in Ghana.”

She said Ghanaians would stand against anything that goes against the laws of the land.

“Listening to the utterances of the NDC, it seems they have even conceded defeat before a single ballot is cast,” she said.

Mrs. Bawumia's confidence was kindled by the support she received at both the Ho Polytechnic and Juapong market.

At the Juapong Market, activities came to a standstill, with the people joining in singing and dancing of the Kangaroo. She introduced the aspiring Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Moses Assem, and told the people to make him join the country's legislature.

“The whole Volta Region has only one MP, its not good, send more of the NPP MP's there, and they would ensure that your needs are addressed,” she said.

At the Ho Polytechnic, she urged the students to be ambassadors of peace, and put the country before any political party.

“Don't be used. I say don't be used by any political party to cause mayhem or chaos in this country…Ghana is for the youth, and we must protect it,” she said.