This is my opinion on the statement below, alleged to have been made by NDC’s General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey: “Ghanaians try to put NPP and NDC together but we are not the same. NDC was founded on patriotism and genuine love and the other purports to be loving but their history says otherwise and their track records over the years prove that.
“They have a love for just having power. NPP rode to power on the back of lies and deception and they are continuing with that,” Fifi Kwetey said.
Also, the NDC’s track record proves they are better managers of the economy.
“Our alternatives are still on the ground and our proposals ahead of the 2020 election are still relevant because we were clear on how we wanted to run the economy,” he added.
Mr Kwetey argued that the NDC ensured effective delivery and implementation of its key policies and programmes, unlike the NPP who have refused to accept responsibility for the mess they have created.
My comments: The foundation of NDC is available for all to see. The PNDC, the tradition that formed the NDC’s tradition, came with a political theory called “Enriching the poor, by impoverishing the rich.”
The PNDC came and divided us into Citizens and People. The Citizens were classified as the rich, who were accused of reaping the country dry, while the People were the poor and downtrodden. The Citizens were portrayed as enemies and their businesses were collapsed to enrich the revolutionary forces.
The ¢50.00 note was demonetized in 1985 and everyone was instructed to deposit their notes into their bank accounts and keep the receipt for refund, later. The poor, the PNDC claimed it came for and the NDC claims to stand for, were deprived of their money and made poorer.
Most of them kept the ¢50 notes for convenient way of doing business, since during that time, there was no mobile phone to have MoMo transactions. Their working capital disappeared, never to be realized again.
Jerry Rawlings and his cohorts most likely paid the ¢50.00 notes into their personal accounts, enriching themselves overnight, at the expense of the poor. No doubt, Rawlings who could only buy gobe (gari, oil, beans and egg) on credit, became the richest man in Ghana before he died.
When it comes to lying to the people, so as to come to power, the NDC tops all. I have these two examples. In 2008, the NDC promised that when it elected into power, it was going to implement a One-Term-Premium health insurance policy and it was going to reduce fuel prices, drastically.
Come 2009 right through to 2017 when the NDC exited office, it could not implement a one-term-premium on the NHIS, making the poor very disappointed.
In April 2008, with the world price of crude above $147.00 a barrel, President Kufuor pegged ex-pump price for petrol and diesel at GH¢3.69 per and GH¢3.89per litre, respectively. Candidate Mills of the NDC cried foul and promised that immediately he takes office, fuel prices will be reduced drastically.
The NDC came into office and the world market price for crude dropped to below $50.00 per barrel, yet Mills and the NDC increased ex-pump price of fuel, drastically, by 10%.
The track record of the NDC is not to rule but to enrich itself at the expense of the poor. The NPP on the other hand, who always comes to alleviate poverty, introduced among many, the NHIS, which the NDC stood firmly against, to the extent that its MPs walked out of Parliament, when the bill was passed. And when NDC came back to government, it collapsed the scheme.
The Free SHS, meant to help the poor, is seriously being condemned by the NDC, as poorly implemented, without offering any alternative. And it seems resolved to withdraw it when it comes to power.
The NDC having no intention of resolving housing deficit, contracted a loan of $200 million to construct the 5,000-unit Saglemi housing project. After constructing only 668 housing units, the project came to a halt, and $196 million was spent. The 668 units were valued at $64 million. (https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-botched-saglemi-housing-project/jv7z5qh).
When the NPP government decided to let go of the project and sell it to interested people to save the country from unnecessary expenditures, the NDC instigated its supporters to condemn government for its intended action.
This government, like all governments formed from the UP Tradition, comes out with policies that aim at alleviating the condition of the poor. What policy can the NDC boast of which, is poor friendly?
And did I hear Fifi Kwetey saying that their alternative proposals ahead of the 2020 elections are still relevant? Well, there is issue about Article 8.7(c) of the NDC 2020 People’s Manifesto, under FINTECH, which reads, “(The next NDC government will): introduce a uniform transaction fee policy to guide the electronic payments industry.”
While it sounds to majority of Ghanaians like E-Levy, which the NDC hotly condemned, the NDC is running from this, by saying it intends to make all service providers charge uniform fee. The question is, how can a government in a free-market economy, impose fix-price on private businesses?
This is NDC for you; never considering the poor but always thinking of themselves.
The UP Tradition and the NDC Tradition are never the same.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
