Need for political season... President calls for debate on pros and cons of incumbency

President John Dramani Mahama has called for a debate on the advantages and disadvantages that come with incumbency, assuring that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) “is willing to take part in such a debate.”

“The issue of incumbency has been discussed over the years. This is not the first time that we are talking about it. Incumbency comes with advantages and disadvantages,” he stated.

He said all political stakeholders should carry the conversation to its logical conclusion and set a political season in which campaign would be lifted during which time the President would be debarred from doing what could be deemed as abuse of incumbency, and pointed out that it was a debate “we are prepared to participate in.”

President Mahama made the call when he was interviewed on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) local FM station in Sunyani, Radio BAR, as part of his three-day “Accounting to the People” tour of the Brong Ahafo Region.

He spoke on a wide range of subjects including health, security, education, agriculture, the DKM Microfinance saga, sports and corruption.

President Mahama said the issue of incumbency could be discussed, and explained that in some countries where the issue had been regulated, there was a fixed campaign period during which the President was not allowed to do certain things.

“But we don’t have a fixed campaign period. My opponent was chosen two-and-a-half years ago and he’s been campaigning since then till now asking people to try him and all that, I haven’t done that but rather going round to do my work as President,” he added.

Abuse of incumbency

Responding to a question on how his opponents had accused him of using his regional tours to solicit for votes, President Mahama said it did not make sense to postpone the inauguration of projects because the general election was just at the corner.

“Projects become ready for inauguration at a certain time and I won’t say because an election is due, I have to suspend the inauguration of projects and wait till the end of the election, it doesn’t make sense.

“As I speak there are projects that are ongoing, there will be projects that will be ready for inauguration in September, October, November, December and even in January when an elected President will be sworn in,” he explained.

He said the NDC as a party would officially launch its campaign for the 2016 elections, and added that from that he would be seen in a party    T-shirt campaigning for the November polls.

“Until then, I will continue to perform my duty as the President,” he said, and added that even during political campaigns he would inaugurate projects which are ready so that they could be used for the purposes for which they were constructed.

Schools under trees

President Mahama said the government’s efforts to eliminate schools under trees was on course to achieve the dream by 2020 with or without him.

He said if any government made that dream a priority, the country would be able to provide decent infrastructure for all schools by 2020.

President Mahama explained that in 2010 when a survey was conducted, there were 4,200 schools under trees and since then more than 1,700 of such schools had been provided with classroom accommodation.

“I believe that over the next five years, we will be able to take out all the 4,200 schools under trees,” he said, and explained that besides the central government’s intervention, each metropolitan, municipal and district assembly had been tasked to provide school blocks for two schools under trees every year.

“We have 216 assemblies and if all of them are providing school blocks for two of such schools, then they will be eliminating 432 of such schools from their predicament every year,” he stated.

President Mahama, however, reminded Ghanaians that since human settlements were still ongoing and population still increasing, there would still be more settlements who would need school buildings, even if all the current 4,200 schools under trees had been eliminated.

Technical universities

Answering questions on the turning of the polytechnic institutions into technical universities, he explained that faculties and infrastructure of the existing polytechnics would be improved to make them first-class universities.

“It is not going to be just a change of name. It is going to be a change of curricula, a change in quality and that is why we are upgrading the workshops and laboratories,” the President said.