Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia greeting chiefs at Atobiase, Western Region, yesterday
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said many people will attest to the fact that the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is working assiduously to reduce the hardships of Ghanaians.
The Vice-President then threw a challenge to ex-President John Dramani Mahama and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) to tell Ghanaians a single policy they implemented to lessen the sufferings of the people when they were in office.
Citing examples of how the current government is reducing the hardship of Ghanaians, Dr. Bawumia, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, mentioned the Free SHS policy as a major social intervention that would continue to bring hope to many people.
“The policy had reduced the suffering of parents who could not pay school fees for their children,” he said whilst addressing the chiefs and people of Atobiase in the Wassa East District of the Western Region yesterday as part of his two-day tour of the region.
He told the gathering that “the Akufo-Addo administration has reduced the suffering of teacher trainees by restoring the teacher trainee allowances, restored the nursing training allowance which had reduced the suffering of nursing trainees.”
“We have introduced the Planting for Food and Jobs to help reduce the suffering of farmers in the country. We have introduced hand pollination, mass pruning, supply of fertilizers and other initiatives to help increase cocoa production,” he added.
The Vice-President said reduction of electricity and water tariffs since April is also an effort to bring some relief to the people. “This is the first government in the Fourth Republic that has done this compared to the average annual increases of 45 per cent under the previous NDC government,” he noted.
“We, the NPP, have managed the economy well, introduced ambulance services in all 275 constituencies, and we’re building factories in all the districts,” he said.
Besides, he mentioned the Zongo Development Fund and Zongo Ministry to develop the Zongos.
Dr. Bawumia told the people that the 2020 general election was about the future of Ghana and called on them to give the NPP four more years to do more for them.
“I am celebrating my birthday today October 7 and the best birthday gift you can give to me is to vote massively for the NPP on December 7, this year,” he said amid spontaneous applause.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, who was at the function, told former President Mahama to run away from issues bordering on cocoa because he performed poorly in that sector when he had the chance.
“It was his regime that nearly collapsed the cocoa industry when he failed to do something about the cocoa swollen shoot disease,” he pointed out.
He explained that the current government was cutting down the affected cocoa trees and paying farmers GH¢1,000 for an acre of farm that would be destroyed and also helping them to plant plantain in the interim as they await the growth of the cocoa amid other incentives.
The Chief of Wassa Atobiase, Nana Opia II, said, “Frankly, the government of President Akufo-Addo has performed so well and its good works are there for all to see,” adding, “If I am to talk about the good works of this government, I will need about an hour to talk about them but we don’t have much time so I will talk about just a few.”
From Wassa East, the Vice-President and his entourage moved to Jomoro where he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people at Sameyi in Nzema East and also cut the sod for an LPG Bottling Plant at Akyirim at Axim in the Nzema East District.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Atobiase