Rally behind govt — Dr Bawumia

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has asked the youth to rally behind the government as it remains committed to implementing policies and programmes that have direct and positive impact on their lives.

“The youth are at the core of the policies and programmes of Nana Akufo-Addo's government, and we remain committed to ensuring that we implement policies that have direct, positive impact on every life, particularly that of the youth,” he said.

He said the government had made significant strides in the past three years and performed much better than its predecessors  in every aspect of national development.

Youth rally

Dr Bawumia was speaking at the National Youth Rally of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Tamale, the Northern regional capital, last Saturday after joining thousands of enthusiastic and committed party faithful in a health walk on the principal streets.

The mammoth rally, which was held at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, brought together the national executive, Members of Parliament, key appointees in government, among other personalities.

NDC not alternative

“When Akufo-Addo was voted into office, under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) growth in agriculture was declining, growth in industry was negative, interest rate was very high, unemployment was worsening, NHIS was cash and carry, health care system was worsening and we had only a few ambulances and we had also endured four years of dumsor,” Dr Bawumia cited some of the challenges under the NDC government.

He said the NDC was never an alternative because they had demonstrated to Ghanaians that they were not capable of managing the affairs of the country, recalling that under the NDC administration the economy was on the brink of collapse leading to a freeze on public employment and the cancellation of allowances for trainee nurses and teachers and erratic power supply.

He took a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama, describing him as “a nice man who is incompetent and should never be given the opportunity to be a president again”

“People say that John Mahama is a nice man, oh yes, he may be a nice man, but he is a nice man who you give the economy and very soon you cannot get teacher trainee allowance, you cannot get nursing trainee allowance, you cannot pay your child’s school fees, you cannot get a job to do, agriculture will be declining, electricity prices will be going up, is this the kind of nice man we want?” he wondered.

Work hard

Dr Bawumia noted that the Akufo-Addo-led government had demonstrated to Ghanaians its competence in managing the affairs of the country, and therefore should be given a second term in next year’s election.

He, therefore, called on all and sundry to reflect on the good work of the government and give it a second term to enable it to fulfil all the campaign promises.