New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has asked the public never to measure the NPP and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the same scale because the two parties are never the same.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the NPP means ‘serious business’ but the NDC is only interested in all manner of propaganda – whether fair or foul – just to win an election.
“There is a dangerous lie, poisoning our politics that must be quashed decisively: the notion that the two major political parties – the NDC and the NPP – are the same. We, in the NPP, know from whence we came. We have never had any identity crisis,” the NPP standard bearer said at the official launch of the party’s manifesto at the Trade Fair Centre, La, Accra, on Sunday.
Stealing Ideas
He emphasized that the NDC has been plagiarizing policy ideas from opponents, particularly the NPP, but ended up messing up such laudable ideas during implementation.
“When we drew up a manifesto that we titled, ‘Transforming Lives, Transforming Ghana,’ you would remember that some people (NDC) simply wanted ‘e dey bee keke,’ and when they appropriated our title, they have been at a loss about what to do with it.
“On the one hand, it is possible to see the comic side in the manifesto pilfering phenomenon and agree with the ‘great minds think alike’ wisecrack, but, on the other hand, it is a dangerous practice for our country for political parties simply to take on concepts and programmes they do not believe in, nor have thought through,” Nana posited.
One Time NHIS Premium
Citing examples, Nana Akufo-Addo said, “The NDC did not believe in the National Health Insurance Scheme; they demonstrated the level of disbelief by walking out of parliament when the NHIS Bill came to the House and it was passed without their input and came into operation in 2004.
“Proof that they did not believe in it and certainly did not understand it came in 2008, when the NDC campaigned on a hare-brained idea to change the NHIS to a one-time premium paying scheme. Is it any wonder the NHIS has been in so much trouble since 2009 under the government of the NDC?”
Free SHS
On another critical policy, the NPP flag bearer said, “Let’s take Free SHS. The NDC made it volubly clear they did not believe in it; they did not like the idea and they rubbished it at every opportunity. It is not surprising therefore, that they have been having such a hard time trying to run their watered-down version of Free SHS.”
Political Identity
Nana Akufo-Addo noted that even though the NPP has always been very clear on what the party stands for in its pursuit of ideals and traditions, the NDC struggled to define its political identity.
“I do not propose to speak about what the NDC stands for, save to make the point that the party had been in power for eight years and it was when they had lost power and were in opposition that they met and decided they were ‘Social Democrats.’
“We of the NPP have always taken our manifestoes seriously because we believe politics is a serious business; and asking for the mandate of the people to govern is a serious business,” he stressed.
NPP Ideals
“Right from our UGCC roots through the various incarnations to the present day NPP, we have held firm in our belief in multi-party democracy and free market economies; even when these were not the fashionable ideologies on this continent of ours.” We were never tempted during the many years we spent in opposition to compromise on our beliefs and when at last we had the opportunity to govern this country under President J. A. Kufuor in 2001 through to 2008, our performance demonstrated we were comfortable in our skins, to borrow a manner of speaking,” Nana Addo added.
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