Voting NPP in 2020 is treason

In just a little over two months Ghanaians are heading to the pools to elect who will manage our collective destinies and deliver us from the shackles of poverty and under development that has ensnared us. The two leading contenders and their parties have already launched their manifestos with very catchy phrases like "4 more for Nana to do more from the NPP" and the NDC's "J&J rescue mission". Fortunately for Ghanaians the two leading contenders have had an opportunity to manage this country before, so for their promises should count for less. A comparison of their deeds while in office should be a better judge than mere campaign slogans. The size of Ghana's economy was 41.6Bn dollars in 2012, under the presidency of JD Mahama 2012 to 2016, it grew to 54.5bn dollars, a nominal increase of some 13bn dollars. This figure is projected to get to 66bn dollars by the end of 2020, a nominal increase of some 11bn dollars. Clearly the change we voted for in 2016 has been to our detriment. The 13bn will generate more jobs for the youth than the 11bn. Ghana's debt at the end of 2012 stood at 26bn dollars, it increased to 70bn by the end or John Mahama's reign 2012 to 2016 an increase of 54bn. This national debt however shot up from 70bn in 2016 to 140bn dollars as at the middle of august 2020 and this does not include the hidden borrowing of 2bn from the syno hydro deal and the year has not ended. A nominal increase of some 70bn dollars. This huge borrowing has been supervised by the very same people who ‘basterdized ‘the Mahama government for its penchant for loans and borrowing. Once in government the NPP government under president Akuffo Addo has changed their disgust for borrowing to what the borrowing was used for. Arguing that borrowing is a good thing if used for investment, to justify why they have borrowed so much. Their argument is that if borrowed funds are invested, it grows the economy creating jobs and more opportunities for government to be able to pay back those debts. Which is very true, investment in infrastructure such as roads enhances efficiency of our productive sectors making them more competitive. This spur their growth and allow them to create more employment opportunities. Now let’s take at look at the capital invest patterns under the rein of these two leaders. In 2013, Ghana's capital investment as a percentage of GDP was 26.5% which increased to 29.5 in 2014 to 30% in 2015 dropping to 27.8 in 2016 and JD Mahama. Under president Akuffo Addo Ghana's capital investment dropped to 22.2% in 2017, rose a little to 24.5 in 2018 and peaked at 26.5 in 2019. Under capital investment, John Mahama's worst performance in 2013 equals President Akuffo Addo's Best performance in 2019. The NPP’s own mantra on what the borrowing was used for does not go in their favour. This is where fellow Ghanaians we should be angry with the NPP, if all these borrowing has occurred with even lower capital investment, how badly can an economy be run? Let's put the radar on corruption for a minute, Transparency International corruption perception index scored Ghana at 46%, 48%, 47 and 43 respectively for years 2013.2014,2015 and 2016 under Former President Mahama. Under Akuffo Addo the numbers are 40%, 41% and 41% for 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively. Here again John Mahama outperforms Akuffo Addo. With all these numbers and facts below, it should be treasonable to vote for the NPP in the 2020 elections. Its more like anything they touch turns south, how can we grow and develop under such a government? Is the NPP asking us for for more years of this abysmal performance? This country indeed needs rescuing, and the NDC’s rescue mission could not be more appropriate.

Yakubu Nyanba