Leave the criticisms to CPP, PPP, PNC or GFP: NDC lacks the credibility!

Some of us are struggling to comprehend how and why the NDC loyalists can gleefully criticise the NPP government led by President Akufo-Addo of allegedly messing up Ghana’s economy.

With all due respect, the NDC diehard supporters must stop living in a denial, engage in serious introspection and accept the fact that the erstwhile Mahama administration rather left Ghana’s economy in a serious mess, and therefore it cannot be fixed in 30 months by any economist on this planet.

How can NDC faithful boast of excellent economic management when Mahama’s administration abysmally dragged the 14% economic growth in 2011 to a disappointing 3.4% by December 2016?

The NDC operatives cannot claim birth right to prudent governance when former President Mahama wilfully raised Ghana’s debt from GH9.5 billion in 2009 to an incredible GH122.4 billion by December 2016 with a little to show for.

Discerning Ghanaians are not ready to accept any excuses from the NDC loyalists when Ex-President Mahama’s business crippling dumsor went on for well over five years.

How can Mahama and his teeming supporters convince some of us of managing Ghana’s economy efficiently when they incompetently signed superfluous Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs)-‘take it or Leave it agreements’, in which Ghana is unfortunately paying over $600 million per year for excess power we do not need?

Mahama could not have been an excellent economic manager when his administration terribly collapsed the Agricultural sector by reducing the growth from 7.4% in 2012 to a miserable 2.5% by December 2016.

How can the NDC faithful beat their chest and claim to be a viable alternative when former President Mahama shrunk Ghana’s GDP from $47 billion in 2011 to $40billion by December 2016?

Let us face it, Mahama cannot boast of financial prudence when he recklessly gave out large portions of Ghana’s scarce resources to parasitic creatures, who, in all honesty, contributed nothing meaningful towards the nation building.

The truth however is, Mahama cannot claim to have the wellbeing of Ghana at heart when he shockingly decided to give away 58% of Ghana’s bauxite to his sibling, Ibrahim Mahama on a silver platter.

How can Mahama convince some of us that he is the best person to mobilise our revenues when his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, evaded import tax to the tune of GH12 million?

^{The NDC loyalists cannot tell some of us that they can efficiently look after our scarce resources when they carelessly paid a purported GH800 million dubious judgment debt, including the GH51.2 million to Woyome, $30 million to the Waterville and $325,000 to Isofoton which resulted in the drastic reduction of capital expenditure and as a consequence, most contractors were not paid by the erstwhile NDC administration.}

The NDC operatives cannot exonerate themselves from blame when they misapplied $175 million loan facility secured in 2012 which was meant to provide seven district hospitals and the NDC administration misapplied on the blind side of Ghanaians.

Surely, NDC cannot take good care of Ghana’s scarce resources when over GH200 million SADA funds invested on trees burnt down and guinea fowls mysteriously flew to the nearby Burkina Faso without a trace. How bizarre?

I have always insisted that whenever the NDC operatives keep holding on to vague rhetoric and political gimmicks with a view to misinforming the unsuspecting public, it gives some of us the energy and reason to confute the misconception by all means necessary.

It is, indeed, quite ironic that despite all the harsh economic conditions amidst corruption allegations (Bus branding, Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, NCA, Ford Expedition Vehicle, amongst others), the NDC faithful can still go ahead and aim accusing fingers at the NPP government of promising the electorates heaven, which led to their humiliating 2016 election defeat.

Given the circumstances, it would be extremely unreasonable for anyone to expect a government that has been in power for less than three years to honour all its Manifesto promises within such a short space of time.

Wasn’t the erstwhile NDC administration led by Ex-President Mahama that bizarrely claimed that they, (NDC government), had rapaciously consumed all the meat on the bone?

The former president’s comment was a result of Ghana’s unprecedented economic collapse as a result of mismanagement and rampant corruption under his watch.

So, it is extremely bizarre to keep hearing and reading from the same people who wilfully collapsed the once blossoming economy shouting from the roof top about the supposedly slow pace of development, barely two and half years of NPP government taking office.

How could individuals who carelessly throw Ghana’s economy deeper and deeper into the mire in eight years turn around and accuse the NPP government of not fixing the massive mess in barely two and half years in office?

In fact, it was the same NDC government that spent profligately and above its budget, and, in the process needlessly increased our total debt stock.

This means that there was virtually no money left in the national purse for the incoming NPP government to turn things around quickly.

It is, therefore, unconscionable for the same people to expect the NPP government to keep all its Manifesto promises within a short space of time.

But all said and done, in spite of the economic mess left by the erstwhile Mahama’s coarse administration, the current NPP government under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo has commendably undertaken a number of social interventions to the benefit of the poor and the disadvantaged Ghanaians.

Since assuming power, Akufo-Addo’s government has taken estimable strides to improve the social mobility chasm through implementation of poverty reduction policies such as Free SHS, one district one factory, one million dollars per constituency, tax reductions, a dam per village in the northern part of Ghana, Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), Rearing for Food and Jobs, among others.

It is also worth mentioning that in spite of the huge economic mess created by the outgone NDC government amid stunted economic growth, the Akufo-Addo’s government has efficiently raised the economic growth from a nauseating 3.4 per cent as of December 2016 to around 8.6 per cent within a short space of time.

It is also true that the NPP government has dramatically reversed the inflation rate to a little over 9 per cent from a little over 15 per cent as of December 2016.

Truth must be told, President Akufo-Addo and his government are graciously delivering on their Manifesto promises to the delight of the vast majority of Ghanaians.

If President Akufo-Addo and his government managed to fulfil all those promises, trust me, it would be an illustrative case of “heaven on earth”

We can all attest to the fact that the NDC government failed terribly to initiate expedient policies to overturn the failed policies of agriculture, poverty reduction and resource allocation in the areas of healthcare, education, finance, supply chain management and security sector planning, amongst others.

Based on the delineated facts and figures, it would be somewhat disingenuous for anybody to claim that NDC is a competent custodian of Ghana’s economy.

K. Badu, UK.

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