The national youth organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, has called out former president John Mahama over a Facebook post purportedly describing some people in government as “Akyem Sakawa Boys.”
Nana B, as he is popularly called, has described the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer’s action as “shameful” and laced with tribal undertones.
According to him, the former president’s decision to post an article written by one of his MPs on his official Facebook wall is way below the belt and does not fit a person of his calibre.
“This demeaning and ethnocentric comment by a former President who ought to act as a statesman is very shameful, divisive, dangerous and must be condemned unreservedly by all discerning citizens. In campaigning in the North recently, Mr Mahama–through a very distasteful analogy–could only wish the president dead and hence used it as the rationale for which Ghanaians should vote for him,” Nana B said at a news conference dubbed “The Youth Must Know Series” on Thursday, 10 September 2020.
“Every Ghanaian should be concerned about a former President who engages in tribal bigotry, ethnocentrism and divisive politics. To elevate our political discourse, we would like to use this occasion to highlight the tremendous achievements of Akufo Addo’s three and a half years in government as compared to the NDC’s eight. Then, we will also explore the manifestos of the NPP and that of the NDC which is full of plagiarised ideas,” he added.
Nana B indicated that Mr. Mahama has not changed and it will be suicidal to bring him back to power since his actions denigrate the high office he is seeking to occupy, adding President Akufo-Addo’s experience and mature way of handling issues have earned Ghana huge respect around the world.
He therefore used the occasion to congratulate president Akufo-Addo on his recent elevation as the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a feat he believes came about as a result of good leadership.
“I would like to start by congratulating the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo, for the honour he has brought to Ghana’s name. This is in respect of his having been elected as the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Monday 8th September, 2020.
“Undoubtedly, President Akufo-Addo’s sterling performance in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, his enviable track record as a democrat and his delivery on the international stage have culminated in him having attained this great position. We all wish him well in this role, knowing full well that he will enhance the position,” Nana B opined.
Also, on the NDC 2020 manifesto he said Mahama has no message and only rehashing old promises.
“The promising spree, contradictions and u-turns of Mr John Mahama and the NDC signal only one thing: that their singular aim is to say and do whatever it takes–including what the devil may himself frown upon– to capture political power,” Nana B stressed.
He concluded: “The NDC says they will create one million jobs in 4 years. What did they do in 8 years? Can we go and check their records? If indeed the NDC can create one million jobs in 4 years, it means they created 2 million jobs in 8 years. Since the answer to the above rhetorical questions are a big, fat NO, we can aptly say that Mahama and his NDC are back to their mendacity just to win an election.
“Still holding onto the idea that Ghanaians have short memories, Mr Mahama is now promising to maintain the Nursing and Teacher Trainee allowances. S3 kwaterekwa s3 ob3 ma wo ntama a, tie ne din. Was he not the same person who claimed they were not tenable and therefore cancelled them? Does he think he can lie his way to victory in the upcoming elections?
“Mahama and the NDC have promised to absorb 50% of fees of tertiary students for the 2020 /2021 academic year. For someone who vehemently opposed Free SHS and even claimed it was impossible to implement because he was bereft of innovative ideas, what can he do to tertiary education? We must ensure such a person does not come to power to mess up our education system!
“Must we really remind Ghanaians about the sordid reality of dumsor, the plethora of collapsed businesses and its concomitant hiked unemployment? How can such a person who could not stabilise the power supply for eight years do it in four years? Are we ready for another NDC term to turn back the hand of the clock to those dark days?”
Job creation under NPP
The NPP national youth organiser called on the youth to trust in the Akufo-Addo administration to create more jobs in his next term, having created over two million jobs in the past three years.
Nana B noted: “The NPP has created over two million jobs in three and a half years (2,055,010). These include:
Public Sector – 778,706
Formal Private Sector – 267,939
Government Job-Creation Programmes – 1,008,365.”
Giving a breakdown of the figure, he said jobs were created through five government programmes, which are: Planting for Food and Jobs (Annual Average): 762,300
Nation Builders Corps: 100,000
National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP): 92,000
National Identification Authority: 35,380
Out-grower Value Chain Fund (OVCF) (Annual Average): 7,254
Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (Annual Average): 11,431
On education, the national youth organiser stressed that Akufo-Addo’s record is unmatched, especially with the coming into being of the Free SHS programme, which saved over 1.2 million students from staying at home.
“The universally-acclaimed Free SHS and TVET Education have seen 1.2 million beneficiaries. The government has absorbed registration fees for children sitting the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from both public (391,318) and private (397,500) Junior High Schools in 2020. The difference this makes to both parents and their wards cannot be overemphasized! In addition, the government has also paid Ghc75 million as examination fees for 313,838 students sitting the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE),” Nana B remarked.
He added: “Unrivalled infrastructural projects in SHS and Basic Schools – 1,200 infrastructural projects in SHS and 557 at the basic school level. This development also encompasses libraries– the construction of 2 libraries and renovation of 10 existing libraries, including the Accra Central, Asokore and Hohoe libraries. The construction and establishment of ten (10) Training Centres of Excellence for the Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).
“Restoration of Teacher Trainees Allowance to 48,000 teacher trainees which cost Ghc 357 million in the 2020 fiscal year alone, restoration of Nursing Trainees Allowance to 49,000 nursing trainees which also cost Ghc336 million in the 2020 fiscal year.
“Youth scholarships for over 30,000 brilliant and needy students via the District Level Scholarship Scheme in 2019, alone, projected to be over 60,000 students in 2020.”
