…knowing the playing field is now narrow
The NDC have launched their manifesto after tactically waiting for the CPP and the NPP to outdoor theirs first and it is quite refreshing to see that now all the major political parties have set out their vision for the forthcoming elections. It is quite ironic that the NDC had a year, after their nomination of Prof. Mills to set out their vision but instead spent the entire year deciding whether to align or distance themselves with PNDC and NDC marks 1 and 2 under former President Rawlings, while at the same time stepping up on negativity and personal attacks on the NPP. One would have expected that having had such an ample opportunity they would have taken the centre stage in terms of vision and ideas but have now allowed the plying field to be narrowed on them. It is therefore no wonder that in launching this too little to late manifesto, Professor Mills opens his account in the preface with a salad of attacks on the NPP and falsehoods and inaccuracies.
In a striking contrast to the NPP flag bearer’s foreword, which focuses on how to move Ghana forward, the NDC leader’s preface is an all out attack on the NPP and its achievement especially in the areas of education, health, environment, economy and in water and electricity utilities. It is amazing how the NDC can choose these very areas where they failed miserably and have consistently failed to cooperate with the government in its policies to improve them. The NPP manifesto uses its first chapter to remind Ghanaians about its record of stewardship which the NDC have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to prize voters away from but have sadly given them no where to go because they have not provided alternatives. The NDC manifesto is interestingly silent on their achievement of government, in much the same way as the CPP suffers from amnesia when it comes to Limann’s PNP administration
In a somewhat positive aspect of the manifesto, the NDC seem to have chosen synonyms to mirror the NPP’s four thematic areas. In theme one the NPP manifesto talks about the strengthening and deepening of democracy, the NDC’s talks about transparent and accountable governance. However the NDC talking about transparent and accountable governance, is like the cat saying I can be trusted with a piece of meat. The last NDC government was as impervious as igneous rock and we never saw even one loan agreement debated upon in parliament let alone a public accounts committee sitting in public. Judging from the record of both parties in government, an NPP promising democracy, in fairness, sounds more credible than an NDC government pledging an accountable government. The good governance that the NPP has exhibited as accentuated by the African Peer Review Mechanism and the guarantees of freedom to the individual and the press actually gives meaning to a manifesto pledge that states that the NPP is going to deepen and strengthen democracy. The NDC did not show accountability when it passed the Criminal Libel Law and in opposition campaigned against its abolishment by he NPP. The expression “good governance” appeared in the vocabulary of Ghanaian politics after the year 2000. The NDC ruled with impunity and gave its critics identification hair cuts. It ruled through the iron hands of the unaccountable militia and commandos who were armed to the teeth and now the chickens have come home to roost with armed robbery in our otherwise peaceful society. Instead of using his preamble to attack the NPP, Professor Mills should have used it to apologize to Ghanaians for the bad governance thy put Ghana through over the 19 years before 2001.
Source: GhanaWeb
