In a press conference held in Bolgatanga, Salam Mohammed Mustapha, the National Youth Organizer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), raised questions about John Dramani Mahama’s suitability for the office of President. Mustapha highlighted Mahama’s past tenure as President, during which he allegedly failed to provide basic necessities like chalk for schools. Apexnewsgh reports
Mustapha pointed out that Mahama inherited a thriving economy with oil resources and no global crises to contend with. However, by 2014, the cedi had become the worst-performing currency, and by 2015, Ghana was forced to seek an IMF bailout. The situation worsened by 2016, with the emergence of the Unemployed Young Graduates Association.
According to Mustapha, Mahama had openly admitted to being unable to provide jobs, likening himself to a magician who had run out of tricks. Mustapha criticized Mahama’s leadership as “rudderless and inept,” leaving the country in a state of hopelessness. The NPP Youth Organizer’s statements suggest that Mahama’s past performance raises concerns about his ability to lead the country effectively if given another chance.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORGANIZER OF THE NPP,
SALAM MUSTAPHA ON NPP’S YOUTH POLICIES ON 13TH SEPTEMBER, 2024
Good morning, ladies, and gentlemen of the press. The youth wing would like to say thank you for honouring our invitation to this press conference. We are profoundly grateful.
This press conference is important in many folds as we intend to speak to the Ghanaian youth on the set of policies that the NPP has for them in our manifesto for the 2024 election dubbed, SELFLESS LEADERSHIP, BOLD SOLUTIONS FOR JOBS AND BUSINESS. The carefully thought through policies are meant to meet the aspirations of the youth of this country and offer opportunities for the development and empowerment of our esteemed youth.
As we gear up for the elections in December, it is imperative that we interrogate the issues and make an informed decision on Election Day. In this election the youth dominate the voters roll, constituting almost 70% of voters between ages 18 to 40. The Ghanaian youth must select a leader who represents their aspirations and has the vision to take them to the next level.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, friends and colleagues, this election is a crucial one as we have a choice to make. The race is between two main candidates. The governing NPP is represented by the ever brilliant and dynamic Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the largest opposition party is represented by the perennial failed former president John Mahama. These two candidates are in full gear of their campaigns and have put forward their manifestos which contain the policies that they intend to implement once they get the mandate of the Ghanaian people. It is obvious that the track record and character of these two men will be put to strict scrutiny and should help form the basis of our decision. Fortunately for us, these two are known within our body politic.
Ladies and gentlemen, we all know John Dramani Mahama. He became vice president in 2009 to President John Evans Atta Mills. When he was the Vice President he complained of being reduced to attending social functions and ceremonies and yet today he takes credit for infrastructure continued or initiated by President Mill, continued by him and completed by President Akufo-Addo, like the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC). Indeed, John Mahama still holds the title as the only Vice President in our history who was investigated by his government’s own Attorney General for corruption under the instruction of his own boss, President Mills.
Vice President John Mahama rose to occupy the seat of the presidency in July 2012 after the sudden of his boss, the President. He continued as president until he lost the 2016 election by the biggest margin in our history, nearly a million votes. I know many of you were, perhaps, too young to have witnessed his time as the leader of this country. But, ask yourselves, from Kwame Nkrumah to Akufo-Addo, how come John Dramani Mahama was the only leader in our nation’s history who was rejected by Ghanaian voters when he went for re-election? Indeed, ask yourself how come he has been rejected twice since Ghanaians tasted him both as a vice president and as president?
He inherited an oil rich economy and without any global crisis to deal with he created his own crisis that by 2014 the cedi was the worst performing currency and by 2015 Ghana had applied for an IMF bailout and by 2016 Ghana had seen the birth of Unemployed Young Graduates Association. At some point he gave up and said he wasn’t a magician to provide jobs. He told us that he had ran down the economy and that the flesh was all gone and left with bones. Schools did not even have common chalk! The situation was hopeless. The leader himself, was rudderless and inept.
We witnessed his shambolic performance as president which saw your parents losing their jobs or customers because of dumsor. Yes, four years of President John Mahama was four years of dumsor. And, when his government realised that they could become rich merchants of dumsor, they went ahead recklessly to sign excess take-or-pay power purchasing agreements (PPAs) that by the time NPP took over the government of Ghana was forced to pay up to $1 billion a year mainly for power we did not need and we did not use. Some who had to have their PPAs cancelled ended up taking government to arbitration. It was only recently that the Akufo-Addo government managed to convince some of them to accept renegotiated packages. Imagine the billions of dollars wasted on excess power that Mahama contracted and what it could have been used? Is this the president we should bring back for another four years after which he would not be accountable to you?
It is shocking that John Mahama still harbours this silly dream of becoming president again. For what exactly, we all don’t know. We want to ask John Mahama, has he left something at the Jubilee House that we are unaware? He should tell the good people of Ghana so we can retrieve it for him to go home and rest in peace.
In fact, John Mahama was a lazy president. He personally mentioned in an interview that he usually got to the office at 10am and left by 4pm. In his entire stay in office as president, his cabinet met just about 40 times. Ladies and gentlemen that’s less than once a month! The civil servants at the presidency during Mahama’s time in office told us stories of loitering around with nothing to do. In fact, the vice president Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur clocked more working hours than his boss. He reported to his office daily at 8am sharp and often worked through 7pm. No wonder why by 2018, Mr Amissah Arthur had set up a campaign office in East Legon, Accra, preparing to contest John Mahama for the leadership of the NDC. But, we all know what happened to him.
He too died, suddenly and mysteriously. May God bless his soul.
Our current president, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo stays in the office working after midnight. Akufo-Addo does not drink alcohol. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia also does not drink alcohol. He is not lazy. He comes up with solutions like DRIP to provide construction equipment to fix our roads in our districts and not to buy private cars for pretty women for all manner of benefits. This is the stark difference between a serious person and a person who leads for the perks. John Mahama just did not take his job seriously then and would not take it seriously if you make the mistake to bring him back. Now that he doesn’t have to account for his leadership and seek another term, he would be worse!
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, it wasn’t John Mahama alone that was hopeless in office, but his running mate too. Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang was equally if not more inept. She was wicked to the youth of Ghana during her tenure as education minister. Her performance was abysmal as Education Minister as compared to the four years that Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh (Napo) was on that same seat. Napo was phenomenal as Education Minister and remains in the nation’s history as the one who implemented the Free SHS policy. What about Prof Jane Naana? It is unthinkable that a university professor and vice chancellor presided over one of the worst periods in our education history. If she and her boss did not believe in Free SHS then why would you believe they would if returned to power? They will simply collapse it. This duo is a perfect disaster for the youth. Madam Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang supervised the monstrous heart-breaking 3-month pay policy, where teachers worked for 3 years and only got paid 3 months. This was how mean she was. She supervised the cancellation of the teacher training allowance, forced universities to pay their own utilities, and could not provide common chalk for basic schools. This duo portend doom for our country and gloom for the youth who we should be preparing for the fourth industrial revolution.
Colleagues, we the youth should be very afraid of the return of John Mahama and should not countenance it. He is not a serious person and does not care about anybody. He once told us that four years is not enough to develop a country. Strangely enough, here he is again, counting on our short memories and seeking a return for a second term in office. Deep within himself he knows he cannot do much for you and your future with the one term in office he is asking for and this should tell us that it is for dubious personal interest and not in the interest of the youth. His re-election quest is about greed, personal aggrandizement, face-saving and totally ill-motivated. John Mahama hasn’t shown any dexterity in helping the youth. His 24-hour economy is nothing but a slogan. The man who could not keep the lights on for 12 hours in a day is promising to keep night clubs opened for 24 hours. He and his party cannot even explain what a 24 hour economy will mean to the farmer in Yendi, the teacher in Sunyani, the taxi driver in Bawku, the roasted plantain seller in East Legon, and the fisherman in Cape Coast. Now, we know per the latest explanation by John Mahama that the whole 24hr economy nonsense is about drinking, smoking and dancing away and not about creating jobs and opportunities for the youth.
If President John Mahama in the days and weeks remaining, after being voted out of office, could take a cabinet decision and give away over 100 acres of prime prison lands, including the Borstal in Roman Ridge and offices and accommodation in Cantonments to a very close business associate, Casilda, and sign off over $300 billion worth of Ghana’s entire bauxite deposits to his younger brother, then what would he not do if you give him four more years?
My friends and colleagues, the NPP does not take your trust for granted. We know the cost of living has gone up and there is ample economic difficulties in our country. These challenges are global, and we are all feeling it. If you followed the US Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump last Tuesday, the first question was on the US economy and cost of living because America, like most countries, has faced her worst cost of living crisis since 1933. Even in the heat of these global challenges which has hit
Ghanaians hard, Ghana has remained very stable. The NPP has steered the vessel of state with tact and compassion. No fuel shortages and long queues at filing stations as we saw under President John Mahama; Free SHS/TVET is in one piece; no food shortages, there is an increase in public sector employment, and workers get paid on time; the lights are stable and our economy is getting stronger and inflation rate has halved and all indicators, including the latest forecast from Fitch, show that by 2025/26 inflation will return to where we took it in 2019, 10% or below. This government has so far created over 2.1m jobs in the country and our infrastructure record is unmatched. We have built more roads, more airports, more railways, more flyovers, more hospitals, more technical education facilities, more warehouses, more fishing harbours, more sports facilities than any other government over such a corresponding period in the entire history of independent Ghana. We have transformed the digital space and building the system that will take Ghana to the next level. We have in the current Vice President and leader with his own vision, a vision that aligns with the new challenges and opportunities of the world today and for the future of the youth of Ghana.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has shown that to lead is to solve. He understands leaders solve problems and he is a problem solver. He is a deep thinker; he is a visionary and highly intelligent. He is a man of integrity. He has discipline. Self-discipline! He does not drink. He does not smoke. He does not sleep on the job. He is not corrupt. His boss has had no cause to investigate him. He is not Government Official One.
What he presents are plans that are business friendly and will assist the private sector to grow and create jobs. The NPP manifesto has many splendid policies for the youth under Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. His attention and focus will be on stimulating growth and creating jobs. Businesses are excited by his promise that from January 2025 there will be total tax amnesty if he is voted into office, giving the private sector a new clean slate for growth and job creation. He also promises a predictable and consistent flat rate for duties at our ports for importers. This means that you will pay less and will not be tied to the dollar.
A Bawumia government will train 1 million youth in digital skills to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution. This will include coding, software development and web development. Furthermore, a new area that will open up and bring in more jobs is the mining sector which will witness new arrangements and simplification. The new bank to be set up for the mining sector will help Ghanaians acquire their own machines and a new registration regime with just a Ghana Card will help cut down the galamsey menace. It will birth a new dawn for mining in Ghana. This will be well regulated and reduce illegal mining. He will make Galamsey unattractive for the youth with his plans for Responsible Mining.
Dr. Bawumia has the credibility to back his promises because of his track record. He is a proven performer even in his limited role as Vice President. Should he ascend to the presidency, he will put up a stellar performance.
Ladies and gentlemen, the credit scoring system which is about to be launched is a game changer for the youth. It will reduce the heavy burden on us having to look for cash for everything as the status quo is now. From next year you can buy everything you need and pay little by little.
We have witnessed Dr Bawumia’s strong performance as vice president of the republic and we are confident he will guide the youth to realize our full potential. It’s a new dawn for the next generation!
In conclusion, Dr. Bawumia says to you, I understand you and where we are now and I am here for you. I will work for you and represent your true aspirations.
A vote for Bawumia and NAPO is a vote for the young people of Ghana. A Vote for John Mahama and Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is a vote for their End of Service Benefits. The choice is yours and I know you will choose for your future.
Thank you.
May God bless our homeland Ghana!
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
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