By K. Badu
Apparently, I have been incurring the wrath of diehard supporters of the NDC Party for vigorously upbraiding the erstwhile NDC government on its inability to transform Ghana’s fortunes.
Let me however venture to stress that I am a proud and an unrepentant critic of the NDC government. Indeed, I have no regrets for relentlessly highlighting all the negative effects of the NDC’s maladaptive governance.
Of course, to ceaselessly scribe and squall about the appalling state of Ghana’s economy which the NDC apologists back then, strangely perceived as an innocuous or a convivial issue, is to be more or less regarded as a political fanatic, or even as a radical conservative, mischievously seeking to discredit their beloved party.
But far from it, I was rather being true to the faith, and with a view to upholding and defending the good name of our beloved Ghana.
As a matter of fact and observation, the good people of Ghana witnessed so much duplicities, corruption, incompetence, nepotism, cronyism and frequent abuse of power in the NDC government. Hence the vast majority of Ghanaians lost trust in President Mahama and his government.
Truly, President Mahama and his laid-back appointees wilfully collapsed Ghana’s economy, yet President Mahama and his apologists kept trumpeting their vague rhetoric , political insobrieties and meaningless slogans-‘Mahama Tuaso’; ‘We care for you’; ‘people matter, you matter’; ‘we are transforming lives’.
Amazingly, however, President Mahama and his NDC apparatchiks kept trumpeting the meaningless better Ghana agenda and unprecedented achievements, meanwhile Ghanaians businesses were collapsing due to the never ending dumsor and could not even pay their utility bills and their children school fees.
It was in the light of the irreversible harsh socio-economic standards of living that discerning people of Ghana bought into the NPP’s much trumpeted change.
Let me however stress that election is a social contract that exists between a candidate and a voter. In the scheme of things, the candidate solicits for votes in exchange of provision of relevant human needs.
It is also worth mentioning that our contemporary authority or government came into being, as a result of the emergence of social contract.
It was based on such agreement that the NPP Party entered into contract with Ghanaians prior to the 2016 general election.
Indeed, the good people of Ghana found in NPP, a panacea who they trust to set them free from the existential economic bondage.
Thus, President Nana Akufo-Addo and his appointees must not and cannot disappoint the teeming Ghanaians, whose invaluable efforts brought about the needed change.
Apparently, when promises are broken, the bonds of trust are breached, thus the NPP government must not and cannot renege on its Manifesto promises.
So, in the grand scheme of things, President Akufo-Addo and his appointees must endeavour to initiate expedient policies to overturn the failed policies of agriculture, poverty reduction and resource allocation in the areas of healthcare, education, finance, supply chain management and security sector planning, amongst others.
Suffice it to point out that as the international community heads toward implementing and monitoring the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, the human development approach remains useful to articulating the objectives of development and improving people’s well-being by ensuring an equitable, sustainable and stable world.
Absolutely, it is expedient and a worthwhile for any authority to attempt to bridge social inequalities through rational distribution of national resources (Li, Savage, Ward 2008).
Thus, it is not out of place for the NPP government to seek to improve Ghanaians well-being through the implementation of advantageous policies such as one district one factory, one constituency one million dollars, one village one dam, free SHS, tax deductions and many others.
Of course, the promises are exciting and achievable. But then again, it is up to President Nana Akufo-Addo and his appointees to deliver the goods.
Make no mistake; it is not going to be an easy task in the midst of the huge debt left by the erstwhile NDC government. Ghana’s debt is reported to be around GH120billion as of December 2016.
Indeed, the task confronting the NPP government is herculean, and I do not envy any appointee of President Nana Akufo-Addo at all.
It must however be emphasised that the previous NPP government under former President Kufuor met a similar gloomy situation in 2001.
Unfortunately, former President Kufuor’s predecessor, (former President Rawlings), Nineteen years rule add nothing meaningful to the economy, but it rather destabilised Ghana’s macroeconomic indicators.
Ghana was thus declared as Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).
Despite the apparent destabilisation of the macroeconomic indicators amid dire socio-economic standards of living, NPP government under President Kufuor managed to turn Ghana’s fortunes around.
Amazingly, macroeconomic indicators begun to stabilize and Ghana’s debt stock was significantly reduced by about $4 billion within that period.
In addition, as a result of the HIPC initiative and prudent borrowing, Ghana’s external debt stock actually declined from $6.1 billion in 2000 to$3.8 billion by 2008 ( dailyguideafrica.com, 2016).
Even though the task ahead seems extremely difficult, the effervescent President Nana Akufo-Addo and his formidable appointees are expected to deliver the goods to the good people of Ghana.
In ending, if the Manifesto promises are kept and the able appointees live up to the expectation, trust me, the NDC Party will be kept in the opposition for a very long time.
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