President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his vice Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia have been highlighting what they call the ‘incompetence’ of former President John Dramani Mahama and have cautioned Ghanaians against voting for him to return to mismanage the economy.
President Akufo-Addo, during a tour of the Ashanti Region yesterday, pointed out at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi when he called on Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that the incompetence and mismanagement of the state of affairs by Mr. Mahama led to his massive defeat in 2016 and should not be voted for.
Vice-President Dr. Bawumia was at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, berating Mr. Mahama that he has no vision and credibility as far as governance is concerned, asking, “Are we really going back for incompetence?”
President Akufo-Addo had said, “Otumfuo, two main reasons helped me to win the 2016 elections and became the President. The person who was in political office at the time was not performing well and so things were rapidly getting out of hand and that is why I won the 2016 elections.”
“Also, I emerged victorious in the polls because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had a superior campaign message as compared to that of our opponents who had no message,” he added.
According to him, his electoral victory in 2016 came at the right time as it helped to save the country from enduring further mismanagement and destruction under the Mahama-led NDC administration and said his NPP administration had been able to carry out a lot of developmental projects in the Ashanti Region ever since they came into political office.
He stated that his government had been overly successful because his appointees, most of whom are from the Ashanti Region, had displayed competence and delivered.
La Palm Sermon
Vice-President Bawumia, giving a keynote address at a grand launch of “Aspirants Unite for Victory’” of the NPP on Monday, said “we all know what the record was after eight years of the NDC in government and we know what the record of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is as we speak today. We know from the data that is available that John Mahama managed our economy with incompetence. He was very incompetent . . . it’s a fact!”
He advised the electorate not to make any mistake in bringing the former President back to power because he would mess up the economy.
“Not only has he proven to be incompetent, he has also proven to not have credibility and no vision. Right! There is no credibility. He said the free SHS was a hoax; now he says he introduced it. Then he said if he had GH¢2 billion, he wouldn’t spend it on Free SHS; now he says he wants to expand it to private sector. He introduced licensing exams for teachers; today, he says he will abolish it. He abolished teacher trainee allowance, today he will reintroduce it,” the Vice-President fired.
He also said “… where’s the leadership? Where is the credibility? Where is the vision? It is not about just winning an election, you must have a view. You must have a vision. You must be credible to be able to be given the reins of this country to help people and he has not shown so. So, is that what we want to go back to?”
He said that the NPP has always been a better option for the country’s accelerated development, and added “more importantly, the alternative is fantastic.”
“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the alternative! The alternative is just radically different. It’s like night and day. With Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, we have a transformational leader. It’s clear that we’re not just doing business as usual; we’re taking this country and charting a new path,” he added.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi