Don’t trust NDC, it’s all propaganda – says NPP

By Daniel Nonor

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has come under strong criticisms for fast becoming a party thriving on pure propaganda.
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) which made the allegations, said the NDC had mastered the act of propaganda, such that truth had been thrown to the dogs.
“Propaganda, distortion, outright lies are so ingrained in the governance culture of the NDC, such that, the government seems not to take account of reality,” the NPP noted.
At a press conference organised by the NPP to expose the “propaganda and lies” of the NDC, the NPP was quick to highlight the admonishment of a deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Baba Jamal, to workers at the Information Services Department to project the government in a good light, even if it meant telling wicked lies.

According to the young Minister, the Information Services workers were free to say the government had presented a fat cow to the people, even if indeed, it was a goat.
The NPP also took on Mr. Fifi Kwetey, a Deputy Minister of Finance, on his recent press conference, where he sought to cast a slur on the previous NPP administration, but the NPP said the statements and allegations by the former Propaganda Secretary of the NDC, now Deputy Minister of Finance, “is just the latest example of the pursuit of propaganda, distortion and lies as a policy of government and party.”
The NPP further noted that Mr. Fifi Kwetey made claims to the effect that the NDC government in three years added 376mw energy generation capacity, a claim which was contested by a deputy Minister for Energy on an Accra radio station, claiming the NDC had added 150mw to the energy capacity.
The NPP expressed concern at the fact that at the time the propagandists in the NDC were making claims and counter-claims on issues of how much power the government had regenerated so far.

He added that currently, the nation was suffering under electricity load shedding. “Even today, with Fifi Kwetey repeating these claims, the country is still suffering under a debilitating load shedding programme, even though Akosombo dam is full to its maximum capacity.

“This rampant load shedding is destroying Ghanaian businesses and industries, and greatly disrupting the welfare and social life of millions of Ghanaians. It is very sad that in this terrible state, the government of the day is rubbing salt into the wounds of Ghanaians, by boasting of unprecedented feats in energy production,” the NPP noted.
On a question posed by Mr. Fifi Kwetey on what the NPP used the $750 million Eurobond loan for under the Kufuor administration, the NPP referred to the Economic Governance and Poverty Reduction Loan document, paragraph 32. 15 June 2009, prepared by the NDC, which read:
“Out of the $750 million borrowed in 2007, in the form of Eurobonds, $595 million had been disbursed by January 2009. The proceeds were allocated primarily to support public investments in the energy sector, according to the following distribution; $286 million for investments by the Volta River Authority (VRA); $134m for investments by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG); $54m for investment in the Bui Dam; $31m for the government’s equity investment in the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP), and $90m for public investments in road infrastructure.”
“In effect, the government tells the truth to the World Bank and the IMF, but turns back to lie to Ghanaians, whose taxes pay their salaries,” the NPP concluded.
According to the NPP, it had disbursed a total of  $595m, not $750m as claimed by the NDC, before leaving office, and thus questioned the current government on whether it could account to the Ghanaian people how the NDC government disbursed the balance of $155 million left.
On the issue of the free fall of the cedi, the NDC had reiterated that: “It put in place far reaching policies that have arrested the rapid depreciation and brought about a situation where the cedi is once again, seeing appreciation against the dollar.”
But, the NPP strongly contested this assertion, by pointing to the fact that the cedi had lost over 80% of its value in just three years of the NDC, the worst performance in 20 years.

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=48269