Word On The Street: NDC And NPP Are The Same

How true is the above verdict on the two parties? The above is not my claim, it's the sentiments of many Ghanaians. I disagree, I think they are different the same.

But that is not the issue, the issue is, which of the two parties should feel disappointed and which should be happy when the people make such a claim at this material moment that the two main parties are the same?

In January 7th, 2017, the NDC looked like a party destined for a long spell in opposition, all the people could envisage was mass imprisonment by Nana, the alleged Incorruptible One.

Not that people felt the NPP was perfect, Mahama's NDC has deemed a calamity especially when it comes to corruption

In fact, at the very early days of their reign, NPP communicators started talking about 16 years in opposition for them.. For a government in power to have lost by almost 1 million votes, the downgrading of the party was not just from empty rhetorics, it represented the sentiments of the people, at least almost one million more

I was actively involved in the process leading up to the swearing-in, I queued for days for accreditation. You could see from the ISD office that expectations were high. At that time, no one expected 2020 to be competitive.

Thanks to hindsight, we can way that it would be much closer even though a party in power-seeking a second term, for the most part, has the edge. By electing Mahama to lead again, the NDC gave NPP more rooms to make mistakes and sneak through in spite of that.

But what has happened now is an admission by many people that both are the same. The notion is that everyone comes to improve themselves and their families and not necessarily better the lives of the people.

This should hurt the NPP the more, they are the ones who have lost out the more on public confidence, not NDC. NDC was a party down, its the NPP that has joined them.

The Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International shows that people od Ghana even think than Nana's government is more corrupt. In fact, Mahama's worst was 43% in 2016 whereas Nana's best has been 41%

Below are the result for respective leaders

2013-46%

2014 -48%

2015-47%

2016 -43%

2017-40%

2018-41%

2019-41%

Indeed, CPI cannot be the best measure of corruption because it is not about incidents of corruption but perception. The respondent though is people with an understanding of the issues and represents to a large extent the sentiments of the people.

Looking at everything, it's NPP that has lost the goodwill of the people, the NDC didn't have much of that.

When you say the perceived devil is the same as the self-acclaimed angel, it's the angel who has to be disappointed.

The NPP and Nana presented themselves as angels, if the people think that they are the same, NPP should feel the more disappointed because in just 3 years, what looked like a nation headed towards a one-party state for sometime presents anything can happen outlook in 2020

2020 looks like a year of voter apathy, when that happens, the ruling party is likely to suffer the more. NDC's chances depend more on how many people decide not to vote.

Even though I still maintain that Mahama was a wrong choice, he has about 45% to build on. 2020 is going to be a funny election.

One thing for sure though, none of the candidates can restore the trust of the people in politics until something drastic happens. Ghana is heading towards citizens revolt, we are running desperately to this place because the political system has lost the trust of the people.

The party and funfair on 7th January 2017 have given way to despondency.

Not because the NPP under Nana hasn't tried to do something, in fact, they have made more attempts than any government in the 4th Republic. Unfortunately, the rush to do more took precedence over proper planning and hence even their best program like the Free SHS has its credits eroded by bottlenecks that could easily have been easily identified and mitigated against.

Again, Nana formed a government bigger than the UN and institutionalized nepotism to the extent never seen in our history. All these have affected his ratings before the people, the myth around him that made him appear as though the last of perhaps the true generation of patriots has been broken and he looks more like everyday politicians as the days go by.

Add that to the needless errors and repetition of the very acts of corruption that led to the previous government being voted against.

In spite of everything, there is hardship today before this government took over, the said economic gains have not reflected or improved the lives of the people in any significant way

The NPP was supposed to save us, to say both parties are the same means it's the NPP that has lost the confidence of the people.

NDC should be happy with such equalisation even if they won't admit it publicly

It means some people will just throw the dice and make do with any side that shows up, that seems like a good chance and a great departure from early 2017 when Nana and NPP looked invincible.