<<Print>>

The 2016 Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Mahamudu Bawumia, has warned Ghanaians, �the stakes are high for our country in 2016 because of what is happening to the economy� and to allow the NDC to stay one day in office beyond the eight years would be a major tragedy for the future of Ghana. Addressing a fundraising dinner held in his honour in London, United Kingdom, last Friday, Dr Bawumia lamented, �There�s suffering in the land. Needless, untold sufferings�� He defined the sum total of the leadership of John Mahama to �Corruption + Mismanagement = Wahala�. He also criticised President John Mahama of reducing the essence of governance to �borrowing� recklessly and �taxing� ruthlessly, including putting taxes on a commodity like condom. The respected economist used comparative figures to show how low the country has sunk since the NPP was voted out of power in December 2008 and called for an electoral end to the eight years of negative experiment and experience under the NDC. Backing his claims with facts and figures, he stated that an unprecedented amount of money has been spent since 2009 under the National Democratic Congress and with very little to show for it as the NDC comes to the end of its second successive term in office in 2016. �In the last six years, the NDC has borrowed US$27 billion. Before that, we, the NPP, borrowed a total of US$5.5 billion in eight years. Compare that to the NDC borrowing $27 billion in six years and ask yourself what have they done with all that money,� the running mate to Nana Akufo-Addo told the heavily attended annual fundraising dinner of the NPP UK branch. He said, though a lot more money has been spent, it is a paradox of economic management that this level of excessive spending has only led to greater hardships being visited on the people. �NDC inherited a public debt stock of GHS9.5 billion in 2009,� the former Deputy Governor of the central bank said. �Today, Ghana�s debt has gone up to GHS65.7 billion. So when I say the stakes are high I am talking about the destiny of our country, Ghana, the future of the youth,� he stressed. Under the NDC, Ghana became an oil producing economy, with cocoa and gold prices all doing comparatively better than under the previous eight years of the NPP. Yet, Ghanaians remember the Kufuor era with nostalgia because of the greater achievements chalked. Showing why NPP is the party Ghanaians can trust with the public purse, Dr Bawumia reminded his audience of some of the investments that President J A Kufuor�s government made in education, health, infrastructure and the deliberate policies implemented that led to significant expansion of the economy. �The NDC has been taxing everything, including condoms and cutlasses. In terms of resources, this NDC government has had more resources than any other government. We did not have oil. Yet, Ghanaians know what we did with the limited resources we had. We spent money responsibly to create the NHIS, introduce Capitation Grant, expand access to education, we spent wisely on infrastructure and built more roads than any other government,� he said, giving examples of some of the deeds of the NPP. While he said, many more Ghanaians are becoming increasingly aware of the superior leadership the NPP represents, he warned the NPP to show far greater competence and vigilance in protecting the votes of the people in the future.