Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP leader and 2028 presidential candidate, has criticised the John Mahama-led NDC government, describing its nearly two years in office as a period marked by a catalogue of unfulfilled promises to Ghanaians.
Speaking to thousands of delegates at the NPP National Delegates Conference in Kumasi, Dr Bawumia listed the NDC government’s failed promises to Ghanaians after their two years in office.
Dr Bawumia stated, “The NDC promised Ghanaians and the youth of this country in search of jobs a flagship 24-hour economy with one job, three shifts and 3 people (1-3-3). Nearly two years have passed, and the jobs have not come or even shown any signs of coming.”
“The young graduate and artisan who voted for the NDC because of this sweet promise of a dramatic job boom through the 1 job 3 shifts, 3 people offer under the NDC is still waiting for his or her shift. Sadly, the promised 24-hour economy jobs have now turned into 24-hour demolition of buildings for a so-called 24-hour market, even the NDC cannot explain.”
He further added, “The NDC also promised a Women’s Development Bank. Almost two years on, that bank has not opened its doors to a single market woman.”
The NPP flagbearer reminded Ghanaians of the NDC promise to reduce electricity tariffs under its 24-hour economy, saying, “However, nearly two years on, there has rather been a dramatic increase in electricity tariffs, thus crippling households, small businesses and industries.
“Today, the barber shop owner, the hair salon operator, the bread baker and many young businesses who were promised better electricity tariffs are now striving to survive because much of their sales are going into electricity bills under the NDC government.”
Dr Bawumia further touched on the cost of living in Ghana, “As if the suffocating electricity and water tariffs are not enough, the cost of transportation continues to rise, especially in the cities, due to rising cost of spare parts and fuel. Cost of rent has also continued to rise. So even though on paper, inflation has declined to 5%, the cost of living for ordinary Ghanaians has increased massively!”
“In the midst of the government failing to fulfil its promises and unleashing all these difficulties on households and businesses, its lifeline has been the relative stability of the Cedi, largely supported by our innovative Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.”
“In June 2021, on my recommendation, the Bank of Ghana launched the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme to protect our currency from global shocks. Records show how the programme saved our economy from serious crisis and revamped the Cedi.
“And the programme is today the major support behind the stability of the cedi, and with it the easing of inflation and interest rates that this government now celebrates. Ironically, key officials of the government today opposed the policy when it was introduced, vehemently claiming it was not feasible.”
He further slammed the NDC government over the Agenda 111 and Free SHS, “Also, several programs we bequeathed to this Government, designed to help Ghanaians live a higher quality of life, have been abandoned. Our crucial national healthcare intervention, Agenda 111, which was designed to provide all districts without much-needed district hospitals, has stalled”.
“If the NPP was in office, these hospitals would have been completed to provide easy access to healthcare to millions of Ghanaians and tens of thousands of jobs to health graduates”, he claimed.
“In education, Free Senior High School is suffering under the NDC. After they promised to improve meals for students, today it has deteriorated. Many of our young BECE graduates are being deliberately cut off from Free SHS, and what frustrated parents are told by the government is that their wards have deservedly failed.”
“I believe many Ghanaians are not surprised by the way the NDC government is managing the Free SHS program. They never believed in it. They bastardised it for years, election after election, until they realized its impact on every household in Ghana.”
Dr Bawumia then touched on Ghana’s galamsey menace, cocoa and Nkoko Nkitikiti, saying, “Let us be honest. Galamsey has troubled almost every government in the Fourth Republic. It is a complex national challenge that demands seriousness, not slogans. Yet this NDC government made many promises to Ghanaians. It promised to resolve it in months and restore our polluted water bodies to their natural state. Today, under their watch, in nearly two years, galamsey has grown embarrassingly worse.”
“The promises to cocoa farmers to increase the cocoa price to GH¢6500 have turned out to be a scam. The promise of automatic posting of teachers and nurses and the improvement in their conditions of service has turned out to be another scam. The promise to cancel teacher licensure examinations has proven to be another scam, just as the promise to pay all Menzgold customers and customers of all financial institutions which collapsed. Even their much-touted Nkoko nkitikiti program has failed.
Dr Bawumia added, “This is the record of the NDC two years on. As our elders say, ‘Agoro no be so a na afri anopa’. Ghana deserves better. I assure you that when the NPP assumes the reins of office in 2029, by the grace of God, we shall bring to bear the lessons of our successes and challenges to do a way better job in these and other areas than this NDC government is doing”.
@ghnow_ Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia congratulates the newly elected leaders following the NPP National Delegates Conference in Kumasi. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ The moment Abanga Yakubu was declared winner and emerged as the NPP’s new National Youth Organiser at the party’s National Delegates Conference in Kumasi. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
