John Dramani Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has brought what he claims to be ‘insecurity’ into the country.
He claims there is rampant armed robbery in the country and appears to say the NPP is not committed to fighting the supposed menace.
The former President, who has been campaigning in the Upper West Region in his bid to return to power after being defeated heavily in 2016 as incumbent, said at Nadowli that “anywhere I have gone in the Upper West Region and I have asked about their issues, they have told me it is armed robbery every day.”
“They take our money; they take our mobile phones,” he claimed the people there told him, adding “the little capital our mothers have to trade with is being taken away from them.”
Tribal Campaign
He once again started playing his trademark tribal card, telling the gathering without providing proof that President Akufo-Addo had been supervising the sharing of state resources for the benefit of a select few.
“There is hope and that hope is on 7th December 2020. All of us will come out in our numbers and vote for a government that will think about all Ghanaians and not only a few Ghanaians because this country belongs to all of us,” he said, adding “nobody is more Ghanaian than another. All of us — Dagartis, Gonjas, Ashantis, Ewes Fantis, Nzemas, Kanjagas — are one people and the opportunities of this country must be opened to all of us, not just a few people.”
When he got to Wechiau, he claimed President Akufo-Addo had created opportunities for a few, but the National Democratic Congress (NDC) he led created opportunities for all.
“Today life is hard. Whatever work you do it is not going anywhere.Farmers are complaining. You cannot get market for your produce and that is because people don’t have money,” he said at Nadowli.
“If you have money, you will go to the market and buy but people don’t have and so you grow your corn, maize, yam, beans and you go to the market and you will sit there if you don’t sell it at a low price and cut your losses and go back home. If you are not lucky you will not even have transport money to go back home (sic),” he claimed.
“When you have sold it and you are coming back home and you are not lucky armed robbers will cross you and steal the money from you because Ghana is no longer safe,” he added.
Mr. Mahama said at Wechiau that the NPP’s $1 million per constituency agenda is a ‘lie’ despite the government showing evidence of disbursement and also mocked the government’s ‘One District One Factory’ initiative which has seen the country getting back to its industrial status.
“When it is coming to an election, politicians promise everything and the mantra is that after all it is politics. When you promise what you can’t deliver and you get the mandate eventually you will be exposed,” he said, adding “if you go and say you will build a factory in every district, you will give every constituency $1 million every year, this kind of lie! The day will come when you will be exposed (sic).”
He claimed that the NDC made specific promises and even delivered more than what was promised, saying “in NDC we don’t say what we can’t do. We make specific promises that we know are achievable and we don’t only achieve those promises, we do more than the promises that we delivered. We know those who made false promises. They have been exposed. And we must be wary of them again when they come giving those false promises.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu