In 2008, the New Patriotic Party under the stewardship of ex-President J. A. Kuffour achieved a lot of successes aside what the then Vice Presidential Candidate of NDC termed “Exercise in Mediocrity”.
The NPP had initiated several pro-poor policies which have brought several relief to the Ghanaian populace. Notable among these policies were the famous and effective National Health Insurance, School Feeding, Free Maternal Healthcare, National Youth Employment programs which reduced the unemployment rate drastically, the Mass Cocoa Spraying which boasted farmers yield, the MASLOC loans which enabled many to get access to capita to start business, the Basic Free Education, the Metro Mass Transit to make all areas accessible and among others.
Nobody thought of the NDC getting a message to campaign on. Complacency became a major feature of the NPP and before they realized, the NDC had finished propagating their usual propaganda – the only thing they are good at.
Propaganda coupled with many outrageous promises made by the then NDC Presidential candidate Late Professor Mills such as – One time NHIS Premium, Cleaning Accra in 100 days, Tamale International Airport, tagging the NPP as corrupt party, the influence of former President Rawlings and among other untrue messages propagated by the NDC young guys made Ghanaians believed and voted for the NDC in 2008 – the genesis of the woes Ghanaians are facing today as the founder of the NDC – former President Rawlings said “corruption under NDC started under Mills”.
Yes, former President Rawlings was right. It was under Mills presidency that “babies with sharp teeth” were given the audacity to squander from the state coffers. The inability of Mills government to satisfy Ghanaians was also due to the fact that the leader of his economic management team – Vice President Mahama was an economic layman and indecisive.
In the 2012 election, the NPP centered its campaign on the failures of the NDC. However, smart Dramani got his way out through strategies known to him alone. President Mahama dominated social media in 2012 election. The moment you log to Facebook, you could see his image and an opportunity to ask him questions. This was one way he used to capture most of the youth especially the first-time voters to his side alongside his usual vote buying.
The inability of Mahama’s government to bring economic relief to Ghanaians and the consistency in Nana Akufo-Addo’s message and the vigilance of the NPP in the just ended 2016 election is what accounted for the historic victory of NPP. The economic failures of the Mahama’s NDC government alongside the rampant corrupt practices and the social disobedience of Mahama’s appointees, President Mahama’s inability to retrieve Ghanaians money from Woyome over a year after Supreme Court’s order, the release of the Montie 3, the Massive Youth Unemployment and the cancellation of the trainees allowance made Ghanaians to lose faith in the NDC.
The propaganda and character assassination on Nana Akufo-Addo – the NPP’s Presidential candidate could not materialize due to how he conceded defeat and congratulated President Mahama immediately after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the electoral petition; this made Ghanaians to come to know who really Nana Akufo-Addo is.
The Vice Presidential Candidate of the NPP – Dr. Alhaji Bawumia did a very great job by practically exposing the economic inefficiencies of the Mahama led NDC government and subsequently convincing majority of the elite class.
The various youth groups in the NPP took the 2016 election as a personal contest. These NPP youth dominated social media and also organized themselves to campaign at villages and places believed to be “No Go Areas” by the NPP in the previous elections.
Yes, the NDC dominated the media but they didn’t use it wisely. They used the media to attack Nana Akufo-Addo which eventually made him popular.
The NPP youth did a great job by conquering social media which they used to win the votes of majority of the first-time voters and also using the printed and electronic media to expose the propaganda machinery of the NDC.
To the best of my knowledge, President Mahama dug his own grave. Some of his utterances didn’t merit him a communication expert he claim to be. For instance “I prefer to lose rather than restoring trainees allowance”. “Ghanaians have short memory” Also in 2008, President Mahama made a statement which came back to haunt him in 2016 – “for the NPP to praise itself on infrastructural development is an exercise in mediocrity – every government does it”. Knowing this and campaigning on infrastructural achievement in 2016 was political suicidal.
Thank you Mr. President, thank you NDC – Ghanaians have proven that they no have “short memory”.
Looking at the economic management team of the NPP headed by the indefatigable Dr. Bawumia coupled with Nana Akufo-Addo’s political experience and his eagerness to fight corruption, I conclude that the NPP will deliver its promises to Ghanaians therefore making the NDC to stay in opposition for a longer period.
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