A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nii Armah Ashitey, has said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will struggle to convince the electorate to vote for the party in the 2024 General Elections.
According to Mr. Ashitey, almost all the major promises made by the party prior to the 2020 elections have not been fulfilled. He cited the One District-One Factory, One Village–One Dam, One million dollars for every constituency, and Ghana Beyond Aid as examples of failed promises, adding that after publicly declaring the NPP Government will never go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for any bail-out, the party has done the direct opposite with the ongoing US$3billion IMF deal.
“These and many other promises – like district hospitals all over the country – are yet to be fulfilled. And the party wants to break the 8 for what?” Mr. Ashitey, a former Mayor of Tema and Greater Accra Regional Minister, quizzed in Accra.
Mr. Ashitey, who spoke at length on the current economic crisis the nation finds itself in, asked Ghanaians to compare their standard of living now to the period of the NDC administration and see which party has performed better, saying: “Now a lot of Ghanaian are looking forward for NDC to come to their rescue”.
He said the dollar keeps rising now and then with its corresponding increases of price of goods and services, making social life unbearable for the citizenry. According to him, importers are in a serious dilemma because once the goods are imported, the prices change on arrival and consumers suffer the consequences.
“Fuel, which drives the engine of the economy, keeps rising and motorists and travellers are seen fighting themselves at lorry parks,” he said.
He added: “The country has over-borrowed both internally and externally to the extent that it has virtually become insolvent and bankrupt, making external creditors shy away from any request for rescue. All revenues are used to pay debt interests and public sector wages and salaries with nothing left for any development projects”.
On the fortunes of the NDC in the 2024 elections, he urged the party executives to, as a matter of urgency, begin training as many as possible loyal party polling station attendants and take them through the party’s ideological orientation. He also urged that these attendants be resourced to avoid them being influenced on the day of election.
“The executives should also turn their attention to the branches of the party where the votes are. The branch chairman should be well-coordinated with constituency executives and regular meetings held to strategise for the general elections,” he stated.
Mr. Ashitey said the party will be very vigilant on the activities of the Electoral Commission during the 2024 elections. He said Ghanaians are eagerly waiting for the NDC to rescue them from the current economic mess they find themselves in.
