The Progressive People’s Party (PPP), has said it is unperturbed by the possibility of other parties stealing its ideas given the early release of its manifesto, noting that in 2012, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) stole its policy ideas.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the PPP Communications Director, Paa Kow Ackon, held that his party’s “ideas have always been stolen,” but he said the PPP would implement its policies better than the parties stealing them given the opportunity.
Mr. Ackon recounted that, ahead of the 2012 elections, “we [PPP] launched our manifesto in February and within the same period, our policy of providing free compulsory universal education and providing and deploying community policing to enforce that compulsory aspect was stolen by the NPP.
We did not get the needed media mileage and so when the NPP came up with their free compulsory education thing, it became their own meanwhile we had said this thing in February.”
He however said that the PPP would not be worried because “people will definitely steal our policies. Today, the NPP is also talking about the very things we are talking about; providing jobs for every Ghanaian, making sure DCEs are elected but these are PPP ideas.”
Whilst concerns have been raised with the delayed release of manifestos by political parties, especially the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition NPP, the PPP remains the only party to have released a manifesto with about three months to the polls.
1 district, 1 factory our idea – PPP
Ahead of the polls in December, the PPP has already laid claim to one of the NPP’s major campaign promises. According to them, they are the original owners of the one factory, one district idea, announced by the opposition New Patriotic Party flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Nana Addo announced to students of the Cape Coast Polytechnic over the weekend, that his administration plans to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts of Ghana if he’s elected into office. Days after Nana Addo’s announcement, the General Secretary of the PPP, Murtala Mohammed, said the NPP copied his party’s policy proposal.
“We are telling Ghanaians that we are the originators of those ideas and there is the need for the media to call the presidential candidates for them to give details so that we can see the difference,” the party’s General Secretary said.
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