President’s tour is abuse of office – NPP
The Eastern Regional branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described the recent tour of the Eastern Region by President John Dramani Mahama as a desperate pre-campaign launch project.
The party also slammed the visit as abuse of office and misuse of state resources.
The branch said, President Mahama’s “Accounting to the people tour” did not provide proper account to the people of the region, but rather deceit about the actual achievements of his party’s eight years in government.
Speaking at a news conference in Koforidua, Nana Fredua Ofori-Atta, Second Vice Regional Chairman of the NPP, said the President visited and dealt with only what he deemed fit for his personal political campaign, instead of his supposed “Accounting to the People’’.
He said, the engineering block at the Koforidua Polytechnic which was inaugurated by the President was initiated under former President Kufour’s administration and is currently 50 per cent complete, yet the Head of State went ahead to inaugurate it.
Nana Ofori-Atta said agriculture which is the backbone of the region and Ghana as a whole has seen little attention under President Mahama’s government apart from the cocoa sector.
He said an NPP government to be led by Nana Addo Aanquah Akufo-Addo would mitigate the plight of teachers and nursing trainees to guarantee the future of the health and education sectors.
Nana Ofori-Atta said allowances of trainee teachers and nurses would be restored and assured that the free SHS policy as proposed in the previous manifesto of NPP is guaranteed.
He said an Akufo-Addo led government would rejuvenate and strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme and ensure that, all health personnel get what they require to make their work and service to the people efficiently.
Source: GNA
We want john mahama back
Arguably many institutions such as multinational corporations, NGO’s and governments, are accountable to their constituencies and do render account to the latter.For example, many corporations hold annual general meetings.This fora is not by any stretch of the imagination a platform for the executive of such corporations to indulge in mere PR exercise.Rather the forum is occasion for the executive to articulate the strategic decisions and direction of their corporation and to render account of the impact of policy decisions to their constituency.Shareholders of multinational companies who form a large constituency wield power in real terms and do use their voting rights or power to agitate for action or impeachment of the executive.
It is noteworthy that the meeting is principled on or characterised by in depth and insightful reportage by the executive,vis a vis an equally engaging and vociferous voter constituency the shareholders, who are not lame ducks,but have the benefit of hindsight to scrutinise.
What about national governments who enjoy incumbency? Where is the appropriate forum for the executive to be accountable to the voting constituency? Indeed some would argue that the rightful place to render accountability to the larger voter constituency is in parliament where the executive will not indulge in mere PR exercise, but where the executive has ample opportunity to articulate their strategic vision and policy decisions and be able to defend what the impact of such decisions has had. I tend to be in this camp. However there are proponents for having such forum with the voters and that may be fine.But this forum is often an easy conduit for exercise in propaganda and not an exercise in real term accountability which lends itself to vociferous scrutiny, but mediocre aggrandisement.Where is the engagement I ask.It seems to me that the intent of this exercise by the sitting president is an easy convenience where the forum is ultimately a monologue about oneself the president.Where is the exchange,the scrutiny, the agitation,and where necessary the impeachment.What we get is a constituency of lame ducks who convene at the grand table of the herdsman to be fed.Sadly that is what this accounting to people tour is about.
Mr president, engage with your constituency and tell them why you went to the IMF and tell them that only countries who are near bankrupt and who want to save face with international creditors rush to the IMF.
Engage Mr president,and tell the northern voters what has really happened to SADA a laudable exercise to give the people the proverbial knowledge and skills so that the man and his entire household could fish for themselves for entire generations.Indeed tell them how your government has squandered the money.
Engage Mr president, and tell the mass voter constituency, how your government has run down the agric sector namely cocoa production which should be the breadbasket and livelihood of many.Tell them how your cronies have reduced mass spraying and fertiliser distribution to one man agency for looting.
Let’s have a dialogue Mr president, and have some hard hitting facts on the table and let’s see if your government will survive the torrential hard scrutiny.Let’s agitate Mr president, for action and let’s see if your government will survive impending impeachment.