Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has stated that the decision by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to score the President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government 14 percent in terms of the fulfillment of its manifesto promises, is an attempt to downplay the significant achievements of the NPP administration.
According to the Minister, the NDC were being dishonest about the current state of affairs in Ghana and that their move is not surprising considering that the nation is heading towards Elections on December.
He stated that the opposition rated the Government’s achievement 14% out of “distorted” facts.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on Monday, June 15, 2020, Mr Oppong Nkrumah says the claims by the NDC were nothing but distortion of facts “one that the leading opposition party is engaging in to serve their own parochial partisan interest”.
The Minister said “As we get into the 2020 national conversation period, one of the narratives that the NDC seek to carve is a narrative of dishonesty and in order to give life or credence to that narrative, they have to create scenarios that if indeed we made 388 promises, they will find some ways of adding some 235 and claim that we made 631 and in the end say therefore that we have been dishonest.”
According to him, part of the NDC’s strategy is increasing the NPP’s promises from 388 to 631 to enable them make a claim of dishonesty the Akufo-Addo administration.
“They make this argument because what they seek is to downplay our achievement as a country and as a people.”
The NDC in the third edition of their weekly press conference on Monday rated the governing NPP 14% in their manifesto promises prior to the 2016 general elections.
The press conference was addressed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who described government’s accomplishment of its promises as woeful.
But in response, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah says “what they have always forgotten is that if Ghana succeeds, and the Government of Ghana, regardless of which administration is in power, gets the credit, it insures to the benefit of all Ghanaians including them. When Ghanaian leadership is respected and appreciated across the continent or the world, they too, regardless of their partisan political Coloured benefit from the collateral credit.”
“We are clear in our minds that this year being an election year, despite the expectation that our attention as a nation even on politics should be focused on leadership in times of crisis, it comes as no surprise that the group will resort to such attempts. We do not believe that Ghana’s progress record should be undermined in those attempts to be partisan. Government assures the people of Ghana to set and defend the nation’s record of growth straight even in this trying times”, he added.
By Melvin Tarlue