NPP To Get The Biggest Shock Of The Century

If you are part of the group which always tune in to major FM and Television stations sympathetic to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Accra Metropolis, you may have erroneously concluded by now that the 2012 elections is a done deal for NPPs Flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

If you are also one of those people who have been reading the numerous newspapers sympathetic to the NPP and believing every bit of party line information that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has done virtually nothing since they assumed office in 2009, you will be forced to close your mind and go with that big fat lie.

Then again, if you have made ghanaweb.com and peacefmonline.com your number one source of info shop on Ghana news and you read tons of information churned out by NPP promoters that the upcoming election is already sealed, signed and delivered for the NPP you may be one of those people being deceived.

But if you move away from the FM and TV stations operating mainly in the Accra Metropolis and venture to the outlying districts of the Greater Accra Region and put your eyes and ears on the ground, the story you see on the ground runs counter to what you hear on the air. That is where the true picture of the situation on the ground becomes very clear leading you to believe that the conclusions you may have drawn is faulty or far from the truth.

I have been privileged to take an extensive tour of all the 10 regions in Ghana and if what I saw on the ground is anything to go by, then the NPP folks have an uphill task on hand as far as the 2012 elections is concerned.

If what the NDC government has done by putting its stamp of approval in every region of the country by way of scattered projects which the citizens in those regions can point to, then the noisy behaviour on the FM and TV stations will not cut or wash. I bet the NPP will be given a good run for their monies by the NDC because the situation on the ground in every region that I went to is clearly and totally different from what the NPP folks have been tossing to Ghanaians on radio stations.

When we talk about development, it basically means a specific state of growth or advancement in various sectors. It does not hinge on only one area or sector. Therefore, we cannot talk about development without mentioning growth or advancement in the road sector, education, health, agriculture, industry, tourism, sports, housing and energy among others. You put yourself in a deep hole if your kind of development is all about putting more money in the pockets of individuals or the citizenry at the neglect of other critical sectors of the economy.

This is the biggest gambit of the NPP. They have tuned their minds or drawn the conclusion that development in Ghana is about nothing short of putting more money in the pockets of Ghanaians at the neglect of others sectors of the economy. As far as the NPP is concerned the NDC has done practically nothing since they assumed power in 2009, because to their supporters more money has not been put into their pockets. Therefore, all the developments that have encircled the NPP folks in the area of roads, education, health and agriculture among others virtually mean nothing to them.

It is very common at mechanic shops, workplaces, drinking bars and social gatherings like weddings, funerals and engagements to encounter a sizeable number of people seriously talking about politics and the up-coming elections. In most cases, you may see three or at most four people speaking on top of their voices seriously dissecting the NDC and slamming the party for doing nothing since they assumed office in 2009.

But what the NPP activists or supporters who are daily shouting on top of their voices at mechanic shops, workplaces, drinking bars and social gatherings like weddings, funerals and engagements do not know is that majority of those who keep quiet and listen to their trash-talk are NDC supporters or sympathizers who for some strange and unexplained reasons have decided not to engage the NPP supporters in any shouting matches. And I can bet you with my last couple of cedis that those silent listeners are those who have seen what the NDC government has done and continues to do to uplift people from the situation they were in during the Kufuor's 8-year administration.

It is not for nothing that the NDC continues to hit its chest that it has done something significant within the past three and half years that they have been in power. Has any political strategist been able to dissect the reasons why Nana Akufo-Addo goes to the regions and virtually has nothing significant to promise the locales but simply talks about the Woyome issue? The answer is simple: almost all the things he intends to promise the people in those areas are being taken care of by the NDC. That is why Akufo-Addo goes to the regions and bark but cannot bite.

Even the NPP parliamentarians who have been shouting on top of their voices and slamming the NDC government at every turn of event have started to shrink in size, because the Job 600 edifice being renovated by the NDC is taking a tremendous shape and drawing curious onlookers and admirers to the place. The other day I went to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to do some research and I was taken aback to see that the offices of the GNA have been renovated by the NDC government, something that no government has ever done since Nkrumah's days.

The Legon/Adenta Road is seeing finishing touches, likewise the Achimota/Nsawam Road. The completion of these two major projects by the NDC will significantly reduce the heavy traffic flow and stress level of workers. People are talking about the pot-holes being filled by the NDC government. It may sound insignificant to a former top government official who has made it big and looking for another hurray at the expense of the public. But to the little guy on the corner, to the taxi and trotro drivers and numerous passengers who are seeing these little but significant things, is matters a lot.

If due to lack of drains people are forced to carry their belongings anytime it rains heavily and a certain government comes and construct drains to take that heavy but unnecessary load from the citizens in that constituency, it would be difficult for them to forget and dismiss that government as a do-nothing government. That is why Ursula Owusu, NPPs Parliamentary Candidate, has a tall mountain to climb in the Ablekuma South Constituency. She is even making matters worse for her floundering campaign by mocking Fritz Baffour, Information Minister and Member of Parliament of that constituency instead of coming out with a comprehensive program to convince voters in that constituency to give her the nod.

All over the country, many people have seen what the NDC government led by President Mills has brought to their doorsteps. The schools under trees which changed into schools in the classrooms are on the minds of many people. Poor parents have not forgotten about how their poor children became beneficiaries of free school uniforms and free exercise books under the Mills' government. Teachers who were last on the NPP's agenda now have free laptops to to aid them in their tedious workload.

The civil servants whose salaries were nothing to write home about and have been migrated to the Single Spine Salary Structure which has led to a significant upward of their salaries and benefits by the Mills' administration cannot be fooled that nothing has ever happened since the NDC came to power.

Most people in all the regions know the terrible situation on most of our roads before the NPP left power. And I bet, they know the situation today and can therefore, tell the difference without blinking an eye. Therefore, come election time it will be difficult to convince them all that no adjustments have been made on their roads.

Fishermen have seen something which has brought significant improvement in their lives. The hoarding and smuggling of pre-mix fuel is gone for good due to just the change of colour in the pre-mix fuel by the NDC government. The fisher folk have also benefitted from the Ministry of Agriculture through reduced prices of nets and out-bored motors.

Farmers who were forced to see their hard earned produce go waste have something to thank the NDC government for because the Buffer Stock Company established by the NDC government now buys their excess produce rather than allowing them to go waste, whilst the prices of staples like maize have not seen significant increases on the market even when we had bad and unpredictable weather last year.

Cocoa farmers will not be railroaded by the NPP because they have benefitted a lot from the NDC due to better payment of the producer price of cocoa in addition to the free seedlings which the government is currently nursing for free distribution to the cocoa farmers.

The NPP folks will slam this article but the party is heading for the biggest shock of the century. Has the NPP sat down to critically analyze why in spite of the heavy bad press that their sympathetic press have unloaded on the NDC for the past three and half years, the NDC is still standing and Akufo-Addo has not made any significant traction out of all the good press he has received? I rest for case for now.

http://majjacks80.blogspot.com
[email protected]