NPP deserves another term — Bawumia

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has done enough to deserve another term to do more to better the lives of Ghanaians.

“Empirical evidence shows that we have outperformed our opponents when they were in power if you compare the two,” he said at a media encounter in Accra yesterday.

He said until the NPP came to power, health was in trouble, agriculture growth had declined, industry growth was collapsing, while the banking sector was on the verge of collapse.

Dr Bawumia, who is the flag bearer of the NPP for the December 7 general election, said the current administration had improved the parameters of various sectors of the economy, including expanding telephony sites, building 54 public libraries, increasing fishing landing sites across the coastal areas, littering the system with astro turfs for sporting activities, improving access to toilet facilities, and restoring both the teacher trainee and nursing trainee allowances.

He said the Free Senior High School policy and other interventions in the education sector had benefited millions of families and individuals, while the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) had benefited numerous individuals and families who enjoyed the facility before the NPP came to power in 2017.

Dr Bawumia spent time answering questions on a wide range of issues, including infrastructure development, the economy, his own past pronouncements and views, and his manifesto document as unveiled by the party last week.

Banking Sector

He said banks were not collapsed, but were rather merged, adding that not one single person lost his or her savings during the banking sector clean-up.

Commenting on the December election, he said: “No single blood should be shed in our quest for power during the polls”.

He said the citizens should be able to lead lives after the elections, noting that the desire for power should not be an end in itself.

He said it was necessary for all to work towards protecting and guarding the peace that the country was enjoying, cautioning against unguarded comments, which tended to undermine the stability of the nation.

Dr Bawumia said the NPP government remained committed to deepening media freedom and plurality, and gave an assurance that the Broadcasting Bill would be passed into law, hopefully before the end of the year.

"We would uphold the fundamental rights of the media to free speech," he assured.

Dr Bawumia stated that the current government had created 2.1 million jobs in seven years, adding that it had kept public sector workers employed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the government had built more railways and provided 54 libraries in seven years as against three provided by the previous administration.

"We have also established fishing harbours at Elmina and James Town in Accra and built over 150 sports facilities," he added. 

Allowances

Dr Bawumia further mentioned the restoration of the teacher and nursing trainee allowances, the extension of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover sickle cell, childhood cancers, and kidney dialysis for those under 18 years and above 60 years.

He pointed out that the government had reduced import duties by 50 per cent since 2020 and increased both LEAP and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) payments.

Dr Bawumia, however, acknowledged that the government faced severe challenges in 2022, particularly regarding fuel price increases.

He said the introduction of the Gold for Oil programme had assisted the government in dealing with the situation.

Interventions

On why the electorate should vote for him, he said, the government had achieved a lot during its seven years in office by embarking on social interventions to ameliorate the suffering of people.