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26.05.2019 Press Release

Re: NDC Will Restore AU Day As Holiday

By NPP GERMANY
Re: NDC Will Restore AU Day As Holiday
26.05.2019 LISTEN

Ghana has a lot of challenges to deal with in all facets of its national life. In a very plausible effort, the NPP government led by HE Nana Akuffo-Addo is trying to restore decency and progress to Ghana.

Having seen the progress chalked under the able leadership of HE Nana Akuffo-Addo, the NDC has always raised non-issues with the sole aim of distracting the government from pursuing its developmental agenda.

NPP Germany has taken note of yet another of such distractions. This is found in Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa's (Hon NDC MP North Tong) statement on AU day - in which statement, he accuses the president of trying to undermine the legacy of Nkrumah

It is quite clear that the younger generation of NDC adherents has lost their political identities and Mr. Ablakwa exemplifies that. The founder of NDC, Jerry John Rawlings, is on record not to be amused by the successes of Nkrumah which the NDC likes to highlight as though it's part of their failed government's achievements.

The NDC in many covert operations, destroyed CPP, the party founded by Nkrumah. They used money to woo many elements in CPP to NDC. We are surprised that the very party whose actions have suffocated the CPP, the party of Nkrumah, would today assume high heights to accuse NPP of very bogus allegations.

Kwame Nkrumah is a towering figure not just in Africa but the world. Undermining him will not solve the everyday bread and butter issues of the ordinary Ghanaian. If there's anything Nkrumah yearned for, it'd be seeing Ghana and indeed Africa on the path of prosperity and not holidays for his commemoration. We firmly believe that Nkrumah would be happier with NPP today seeing the amount of progress Ghana has seen under the NPP. On the other hand, NDC that demonstrated gross incompetence and predatory corruption while in government would have been banned by Nkrumah if he were alive.

The progress of any country is not merely in setting aside holidays to celebrate individuals no matter how heroic. By way of education, Mr Ablakwa should know that - the AU day is not for celebrating Nkrumah. Indeed the president has through an act of parliament, set aside the birthdate of Nkrumah as a national holiday. We fail to understand how not 'sitting home' on AU day while a lot of work remains to be done in the country, constitutes diminishment to Nkrumah's legacy.

What Ghana and Africa need now is a lot of hard work and not holidays. Clearly, Ablakwa has demonstrated that the NDC's approach to the problems of Ghana is 'sitting home'. We hope this is not the campaign strategy of the NDC going into elections 2020 because if it is, the NDC's all-time record of being a party without a message would be cemented.

Do Ablakwa and the NDC think Ghanaians will leave free SHS, working health insurance, 1D 1F, 1 village 1 dam, etc for a government whose focus is to give a holiday on AU day? What Okudzeto could and should have done as a ranking member on foreign affairs, was to suggest ways to make the AU stronger than it is today. Is it the view of him and the NDC that declaring a holiday on AU day would make the AU stronger enough to rub shoulders with the EU, China, America, and other regional organizations?

The point has to be made that, the AU day is not a day to commemorate Nkrumah and that there already exist a holiday designated to celebrate his heroic role in Africa. The NDC's attempt to ride on the back of Nkrumah in order to be relevant - is only a clutch to straw: it is a shame and shows how clueless the party is.

We continue to urge the NDC to raise the bar a bit when they come to national discourse.

Nana Boateng

Director of Communication

NPP Germany Branch

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