The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked Ghanaians to ignore former President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) because the two have nothing new to offer.

This is in reaction to comments by the former president during a public lecture on Wednesday.

According to the NPP, social interventions such as the NHIS, free Maternal healthcare, Metro Mass Transit, and school feeding all suffered under the NDC.

While addressing the press on Thursday, Director of Communications for the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa said, Mr. Mahama has no clue on how to turn the economy around.

“John Mahama and the NDC are yet to deliver one socially sensitive intervention for the people of Ghana to justify their type of social democracy. The monumental failure of the one-time premium for the NHIS is a glaring example. They collapsed free maternal healthcare.”

“They delivered a few cargo vehicles in the name of ambulances and up till now, we do not know the accounting for those ambulances. Above all, they continue to oppose Free SHS, a policy which is the most socially inclusive in the Fourth Republic, yet Mahama had a long introduction touting his credentials as a social-democratic person and that of his party and couldn’t point to one policy that alleviates poverty effectively for the people of Ghana”, Mr. Asamoa said.

Mahama’s comments
John Dramani Mahama, says Ghana’s economy is “on its knees” following its poor handling by the governing NPP.

He accused Akufo-Addo administration of what he terms as political deception, Mr. Mahama is also of the opinion that, the current manner the Akufo-Addo government is managing the economic situation of the country can be best described as a deliberate attempt to lead Ghana in a troubling direction.

“One thing has become resoundingly clear, and it is that our country is not on the right path. We are clearly headed for a major ditch if immediate action is not taken to reverse the trend. I also asked, after listening to many of the people who spoke in these interactions, what we can do collectively to address the excruciating hardship and suffering confronting many a Ghanaian.”

“The problems of our country are legion and hydra-headed. As I distilled from my interactions with the people of Ghana on this tour, the most pressing problem is the impact of the ailing economy on livelihoods, prospects and dreams”, he said.

Mr. Mahama was speaking during his ‘ThankGhana, Social Justice and A Sustainable Economy’ public lecture which came off at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra on Wednesday.

The former President mentioned that his interaction with some members of the population shows that, the tattered nature of the country’s economy has fuelled nothing but a state of despair among the citizenry.

“The consequences of misguided priorities in economic management have led to unbearable hardships, high unemployment and the frustration and despair felt by millions of our youth. The tragedy of our current national situation is that we have a government that appears completely unwilling to acknowledge the problems and even begin the process of addressing them. We are instead confronted with an administration that believes that these major problems can be wished away through PR, sloganeering, divisive rhetoric, populism, and plain political deception.”.

He added that it is really shocking that the NPP has not been able to put the economy back on track as it promised while in opposition years ago.

“Take our present economic state for example. At a time when everyone is crying out over the excruciating hardships brought on by excessive taxation, ever-increasing cost of living, weekly fuel price increases, this government chooses to recite a hackneyed mantra, that there are indicators that show that the economy is doing well.”

“Even if we were to overlook the mismatch between these claims and the very visceral suffering and pain people are going through in their daily lives; it beggars belief, that the same people saying this was only six years ago, dismissing any linkage between the welfare of Ghanaians and economic indices.”, Mr. Mahama said.