Stop prioritising electoral fortunes - Mahama tells NPP
The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has criticised the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for prioritising its electoral fortunes over good governance.
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The former President cited the introduction of what he described as poorly conceived projects and the government’s spending of resources to allegedly buy votes in the recent by-elections in Kumawu and Assin North to back his claims.
His comments follow a recent protest by some food suppliers who picketed at the headquarters of the National Food Buffer Stock Company to demand payment of money owed them.
He was speaking at the Alumni Connect of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network – KNUST chapter (TEIN – KNUST) on July 8, 2023.
The Alumni Connect mobilises leaders of the NDC and mentors the young members of the party for active political engagement.
This year’s event was on the theme: “Empowering TEIN: unlocking potentials, building the bridges of change.”
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Mr Mahama said the resources used in the two by-elections could have been used to settle the arrears, not only the food suppliers but also Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) trainees.
He further suggested that the NPP government’s response to those issues had been the adoption of short-sighted, ad-hoc and poorly conceived programmes that had done more harm than good.
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“Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) trainees have been abandoned and are owed many months of salary arrears.
But we all know that the NPP lacks prioritisation because I daresay that the money that was spent in buying votes and building ad-hoc roads in Kumawu and Assin North could have cleared all the arrears of the NaBCo trainees and also cleared the arrears of the buffer stock food suppliers,” he said.
He indicated the party’s readiness to fight back against electoral malpractices in the 2024 election.
“The New Patriotic Party led by President Akufo-Addo has shown that they are prepared to resort to electoral manipulation through the pliant and partisan leadership of the Electoral Commission to hang on to power.”
“It is our responsibility to give expression and manifestation to the desire of the Ghanaian people for change by remaining eternally vigilant and ensuring that the change is secured through democratic means and that no effort at undermining the change through rigging or other forms of manipulation will succeed.”
“It is in this light that we in the NDC wish to make clear that we will resist and prevent any sinister plot by the EC to manipulate the outcome of the 2024 election, even before the first ballot is cast, through the needless and unacceptable insistence on the Ghana Card as the only means of registration.”
The President of the Association, Selma Yoda, urged the party’s youth wing to join in the struggle to wrest power from the NPP.
“It’s not only just about TEIN but also their use in the country.
Even if you are not a polling agent, you can mobilise people from your jurisdiction, wherever you live, wherever you work.”
“You can preach the good word of the NDC, and you can preach the name of John Dramani Mahama,” she said.