John Mahama
The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, who appears to be desperate for power and making promises to lure Ghanaians for votes has suddenly made a U-turn on campaign promises.
He claims that Ghana is broke hence the need to limit his grand promises.
According to him, “…I am being very measured in the promises that I make because we all know the crisis in which this country has been plunged [into]. We will show you the books and finances of this country, and you will realize the harm that the New Patriotic Party administration has done this country, the economy is broke’’.
Mr. Mahama said this when speaking in Hohoe to climax his two-day “Building the Ghana we want together” tour to the Volta Region.
The former President since last year is moving across the country making huge promises about what he will do for the country if he gets power in 2024 but has received backlash from some Ghanaians over the numerous promises he is making.
However, in a smart move to eat a humble pie, the former President claims that he is being measured in his promises ahead of the 2024 general elections due to the current state of the economy limiting him from making grand promises.
He recently made a promise that the next NDC government would pay monthly allowances of GH¢1,000 to all Assembly members on the claims that “The office of the President’s budget alone is more than GH¢2 billion. “We are going to reduce the President’s office expenditure to pay the Assembly members’’ adding that the payment of the allowances would cost the nation an amount of GH¢80 million a year.
The former President on March 2, 2023, launching his campaign at the University of Health and Allied Science said he would cut down the size of his government to 60 – ministers and deputy ministers.
He promised to scrap ex gratia payments to Article 71 officeholders, reiterating the views of notable civil society organizations in Ghana.
Mr. Mahama among others promised that if elected in 2024, he would investigate how public funds were expended under the current Nana Akufo-Addo government, adding that “This includes the Covid-19 Audit and the findings from the Auditor-General’s reports over years. We must clean the Augean stables and rid them of filth and corruption”.
-BY Daniel Bampoe