A litany of failed promises – Bawumia highlights NDC’s “scam” promises to Ghanaians

Former Vice President and NPP 2028 Presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched a blistering attack on the NDC government, describing nearly two years of its administration as a litany of failed and “scam” promises.

Addressing thousands of delegates at the NPP National Delegates Conference in Kumasi, held to elect new national executives, Dr Bawumia said an opposition party has a duty to hold the government to account, and “it is becoming clear that the questions Ghanaians are asking through us are yet to receive convincing answers from this Government, which is struggling to fulfil many of its lofty promises.”

24-Hour Economy Jobs – now 24-hour demolition

On the NDC’s flagship 24-hour economy, Dr Bawumia said:

“The NDC promised Ghanaians and the youth of this country in search of jobs a flagship 24-hour economy with one job, three shifts and three people (1-3-3). Nearly two years have passed and the jobs have not come or even shown any signs of coming,” Dr Bawumia said.

“The young graduate and artisan who voted for the NDC because of this sweet promise of a dramatic job boom through the 1 job, 3 shifts, 3 people offer under the NDC is still waiting for his or her shift. Sadly, the promised 24-hour economy jobs have now turned into 24-hour demolition of buildings for so-called 24-hour markets that even the NDC cannot explain.”

Women’s Development Bank – no door opened

“The NDC also promised a Women’s Development Bank. Almost two years on, that bank has not opened its doors to a single market woman.”

Electricity and cost of living

He said the NDC promised a reduction in electricity tariffs under the 24-hour economy, but the opposite has happened:

“However, nearly two years on, there has rather been a dramatic increase in electricity tariffs, thus crippling households, small businesses and industries. Today, the barber shop owner, the hair salon operator, the bread baker and many young businesses who were promised better electricity tariffs are now striving to survive because much of their sales are going into electricity bills under the NDC government.”

On the cost of living, he added:

“As if the suffocating electricity and water tariffs are not enough, the cost of transportation continues to rise, especially in the cities, due to the rising cost of spare parts and fuel. The cost of rent has also continued to rise. So even though, on paper, inflation has declined to 5%, the cost of living for ordinary Ghanaians has increased massively!”

Cedi stability – living on NPP’s gold programme

Dr Bawumia said the government’s only lifeline has been the cedi:

“In the midst of the government failing to fulfil its promises and unleashing all these difficulties on households and businesses, its lifeline has been the relative stability of the cedi, largely supported by our innovative Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.”

“In June 2021, on my recommendation, the Bank of Ghana launched the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme to protect our currency from global shocks. Records show how the programme saved our economy from serious crisis and the revamp of the cedi. And the programme is today the major support behind the stability of the cedi, and with it, the easing of inflation and interest rates that this government now celebrates. Ironically, key officials of the government today opposed the policy when it was introduced, vehemently claiming it was not feasible.”

Agenda 111 and Free SHS

“Also, several programmes we bequeathed to this Government, designed to help Ghanaians live a higher quality of life, have been abandoned. Our crucial national healthcare intervention, Agenda 111, which was designed to provide all districts without much-needed district hospitals, has stalled.

“If the NPP was in office, these hospitals would have been completed to provide easy access to healthcare to millions of Ghanaians and tens of thousands of jobs to health graduates.”

“In education, Free Senior High School is suffering under the NDC. After they promised to improve meals for students, today it has deteriorated. Many of our young BECE graduates are being deliberately cut off from Free SHS, and what frustrated parents are told by the government is that their wards have deservedly failed.”

“I believe many Ghanaians are not surprised by the way the NDC government is managing the Free SHS programme. They never believed in it. They bastardised it for years, election after election, until they realised its impact on every household in Ghana.”

Galamsey, cocoa and ‘Nkoko Nkitikiti’

On galamsey, he said:

“Let us be honest. Galamsey has troubled almost every government in the Fourth Republic. It is a complex national challenge that demands seriousness, not slogans. Yet this NDC government made many promises to Ghanaians. It promised to resolve it in months and restore our polluted water bodies to their natural state. Today, under their watch, in nearly two years, galamsey has grown embarrassingly worse.”

“The promises to cocoa farmers to increase the cocoa price to GHC 6,500 have turned out to be a scam. The promise of automatic posting of teachers and nurses and the improvement in their conditions of service has turned out to be another scam. The promise to cancel teacher licensure examinations has proven to be another scam, just as the promise to pay all Menzgold customers and customers of all financial institutions which collapsed. Even their much-touted Nkoko Nkitikiti programme has failed.”