The NPP government under the able leadership of President Kufuor inherited an economy which was characterized by heavy government spending, inflation and currency depreciation, loss of fiscal discipline and weak monetary policy created by the NDC government. One would have assumed that the former president, H.E Kufuor coming from a conservative Liberal background where interest is highly placed on limited government would have considered private sector solutions for public services but on the contrary, he adopted a socialist approach where government is charged with the responsibility for providing services and access to basic infrastructure and amenities to the citizenry.
Ex-President Kufuor’s government promoted and developed short- and medium-term policy framework which captured the entire citizenry irrespective of their social groupings and backgrounds for economic transformation. Key among these strategies included health insurance, promotion of Agro-processing and modernizing agriculture, building of good and accessible roads, provision of energy and building of model schools in each district and municipal.
Ex. President Kufuor revamped our economy by controlling our fiscal discipline and tightening our monetary policy to attract external donors and investors. He again strengthened the private sector by creating access to long term credit for their respective ventures and businesses.
The NDC took over power from the NPP and turned everything around by mismanaging the economy. The erstwhile governance under the Ex. Prez Prof. Mills and Ex. Prez Mahama were synonymous with poor economic performance. Ex Prez. Mahama in his attempt to decreasing poverty rather caused a drastic rural poverty. Gross Domestic Product growth and the fiscal balance deteriorated whereas the Ghana cedis plummeted in forex trade.
It was during the reign of Ex-Prez Mahama that Ghana experienced prolonged erratic power supply, and this had dire consequence on the performance of most businesses forcing many to coil. It has been proven that unemployment rate escalated during the 8 years rule of the NDC despite the numerous propagandas circulating in the circles of the Ghana media claiming NDC has created more construction jobs.
Most of the government transactions were purported to have traces of corruption and the entire Mahama’s administration was marred with actual and perceived corruption. To top it all was the financial malfeasance in the SUBAH, SADA, GYEEDA and the world Cup saga which rocked the entire country and created a deep hole into the Ghanaian coffers.
Clearly, Ex-Prez Mahama, has proven that he’s not up for the mandate, and showed gross mismanagement when given the nod. The disrespect, overconfidence, perceived arrogance, and insensitivity with which former president Mr. Mahama employed by cancelling the teachers’ and nurses’ allowance sent a signal across the country and it’s not surprising that the voting college voted against his insensitive government with an unprecedented lost in the history of Ghana elections to H.E Nana Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo had a plan to rescue Ghanaians from the chaos created by the NDC government under the incompetent leadership of Mr. Mahama. And in keeping in with the reins and reforms adopted by former president Kufuor, he launched the free Senior High School policy in the first years of his government after ascending to the presidency to show Ghanaians and the entire world his commitment towards education and creating opportunities for all individuals irrespective of their backgrounds.
The NPP manifesto has been pro-poor, and all the policies implemented so far, drum home the collective empowerment of the citizenry. Examples include one district one factory, one village one dam, one district one warehouse, the subsidy on Agro inputs to revamp the agricultural sector which employs about 70% of the rural folks and many others.
The Akufo-Addo led government in the second term has employed many of the Ghanaian skilled labor force compared to all past governments. H.E Prez Nana Akufo-Addo reinstalled the teachers’ and Nurses’ allowance which was terminated by the insensitive NDC government.
About four months ago, many Ghanaians took to various media platforms chastising the NPP government over power outage, forgetting the root of this challenge. The NPP government with its competent leadership took the challenge by the horn and rectified the situation with tact and focus. The electricity hiccup has been resolved by the competent administration under the NPP.
President Akufo-Addo has revived the economy. The depreciation of the Ghana cedi and the inflation rate are all on the low compared to that of the NDC. Ghana has become attractive for businesses and foreign investment. One could easily judge for themselves the number of factories the NPP government has been able to register in the last two years. The influx of automobile hubs in the country adds on to proof that the NPP know what is about.
NPP came into government with a plan, and the implementation of the policies and programs have followed through succinctly under the leadership of H.E Nana Akufo-Addo.
Ghana’s economy has been resuscitated even after covid-19 pandemic which brought the economy of many developed countries to its knees and the promises made to Ghanaians have been delivered. It is rather unfortunate that, citizens always readjust the performance scheme and raise the bar of governance any time the NPP is in power. Ghanaians always subject the NPP to a higher bar of scrutiny than the NDC. Is it because Ghanaians know and agree the NPP is the only performing political party which can make the economy better to improve the living conditions of its citizenry and create conducive environment for businesses?
NPP deserve another term.
Source :Armstrong Agyei Kwakye
NPP National Organiser Hopeful
