This came to light at a press conference organized by the National Youth Wing to set the record straight for Ghanaians to know the differences between the NPP and the NDC.
Addressing the media, the National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Salam Mohammed Mustapha said, President Akufo-Addo and the NPP government is serving the youth of Ghana better and need their support to get it right. “It is not a ‘ma try ma kwe’ situation, but our collective destinies are at stake”.
According to Mr. Salam Mustapha, a tour embarked on revealed that, the NPP government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has done so much that no administration in the history of Ghana can beat, in terms of infrastructural development.
He further stated, “So far, I can confidently say no government in the history of this country can match the record of this government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo which has created over 2 million jobs and counting in just 7yrs”
The NDC he averred, is a very dishonest party and completely allergic to truth and does it without any shame.
“In fact, it was during the regime of John Mahama that we saw the worsening state of illegal mining in Ghana”.
The NPP he mentioned, lost over 10 parliamentary seats due to the stance of the government against the menace of galamsay saying, it nearly put the party in the minority in the house of parliament.
‘The President put his presidency on the line for this cause. Whilst the President’s head was on the chopping board, the NDC executives were on the field promising galamsey operators unrestrained and uncontrolled access to illegal mining thereby making nonsense of all the efforts made to streamline it. There are videos as evidence to show as proof. In fact, it was during the regime of John Mahama that we saw the worsening state of illegal mining in Ghana”.
He however, congratulated Hon Ken Ofori-Atta for his hard work and success in securing Ghana the IMF deal within a short period.
“The Youth Wing stands with the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta. We say ayekòo for the hard work you have put in to ensure Ghana bounces back on its feet”.
Below is the full press statement:
PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE NATIONAL YOUTH WING OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of our esteemed press. We thank you for accepting and honouring our invitation to cover this press conference addressed by me, the National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on behalf of the National Youth Wing. This media engagement is part of a forum we have dubbed the “Truth and Facts Series”. The forum will hold periodic media engagements to put before the Ghanaian youth and the entire populace, policies of government, the NPP as a party, and general issues of interest to all Ghanaians. As the name suggests, the “Truth and Facts Forum” is intended to provide honest and candid information to the millions of young Ghanaians who look up to us for hope.
Last week, the NPP, under the leadership of chairman Stephen Ntim and G.S Justin Kodua Frimpong, we chalked a massive victory in the Kumawu by-election to retain the seat for the party. We want to sincerely thank the good people of the Kumawu Constituency for believing in us and doing us the honour. The national youth wing would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the MP-elect, Hon. Ernest Yaw Anim on his election. He is a humble 38-year-old young man who falls within the fold of the wing, and we know he will serve his people with dignity.
Very soon, there will be another by-election in the Assin North Constituency, and we are ready for it. This past weekend, I was in the constituency and was amazed at the level of development that this government has undertaken there. Superb first-class roads, a beautiful AstroTurf, water projects, schools, just to mention but a few. We are going to Assin North, and we are going to win it hands down.
About a month ago, the National Youth Wing, under my leadership, took to the road and toured all 16 regions of the country. We did so with the firm belief that horses and chariots are prepared ahead of battles. And every good army will not relent or joke around with its preparation ahead of D Day. We therefore went round to shake up our structures, i.e., constituency and regional youth wings, and also met with ordinary party members, youth groups, and bases in general.
Furthermore, my national Tescon secretariat led by Eric Ofosu has been at its efficient best with regards to making our student front stronger and formidable. Their campus invasion programs, together with my two deputies, Isaac Nii Ahmatey Jay Hyde and Sandra Sarkodee-Addo, have yielded so much benefit and brought into the party some fantastic young budding people. I can state without any fear of contradiction that, indeed, the NPP is on its way to making history as the first party to win elections 3 consecutive times. We are breaking the 8 by the Grace of God. The energy, zeal and fire-in-belly we saw on the ground have left us with a reinforced and an indelible belief that victory will be ours. We are proud elephants, a special animal with extreme intelligence and compassion.
Our tour revealed a lot to us that this government, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has done so much that no administration in the history of Ghana can beat, in terms of infrastructural development. Our media friends, for the want of time, we cannot enumerate all the projects being done by this government, but let me highlight a few. The recently held 66th independence anniversary parade in Ho was at the plush new youth resource centre constructed by this government. Ho township roads, which the NDC could not do, have been done by this Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government. A 1D1F factory in Adaklu producing ethanol has been established under this government. Ladies and gentlemen, all these are in the Volta Region where the NDC describe as their world bank. Here in Greater Accra, we have seen the massive work being done on the Ofankor to Nsawam stretch of the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi Road. The fly over at Spintex to join East Legon is another important project that will contribute to easing traffic on our roads on that stretch. The various magnificent stem schools built at Abomaso, Kpasinkpe, and other districts across the country will significantly improve access to education. My friends, this is the story of this government all over the country, district by district, and constituency by constituency. We have, by far, digitalised all sectors of this country than any government. Several other projects of enormous importance that cannot be fully listed include the gargantuan Agenda 111 Hospital project being built across several districts, construction of schools, roads, etc.
Ladies and gentlemen, just as our government believes, we at the national youth wing also believe in youth development and empowerment. That is why issues of unemployment are dear to us. If my media friends recall, around 2012/13 under John Mahama, there was an association for unemployed graduates in this country. This situation became a national security threat as all these teeming young people sitting at home, doing nothing created virtually, a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. This association today is moribund. Once again, I want my media friends to recall that John Dramani Mahama, as president, told the Ghanaian youth that he is not a magician to create jobs for us. As if to add insult to injury, his minister in the person of Hon. Rashid Pelpuo told us that we should take stone-cracking as their alternative ideas to job creation. Furthermore, we have keenly followed John Mahama’s campaign tours, and we are yet to hear him make any useful policy statement for the youth except for blood thirsty inciting comments of ‘do or die’. Maybe that passes for his youth policy. This is worrisome for someone of his kind not to have any regard for the youth of this country. No wonder as president, he was a monumental failure and achieved nothing for this country except for the dreadful pain he caused us as we slept in dumsor for years, and businesses collapsed. His audacity to run for that same office again even shocks the devil.
I want to tell Mr. John Mahama that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is not a magician too, but he is creating jobs for the youth of this country. Furthermore, unlike John Mahama and his NDC who have failed to communicate a single policy for the youth during their recent campaigns, the NPP Government has a clear youth policy that will be continued by the successive NPP Government come 2025 after breaking the 8. So far, I can confidently say no government in the history of this country can match the record of this government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo which has created over 2 million jobs and counting in just 7yrs. These employment figures and key policies prove the point that the NPP as a party and in Government is heavily pro-youth. This is why the NPP youth wing wishes that all young people in this country will join us and make NPP their party of choice. It is the party that has a track record of working for the youth. Since our first government under President Kufuor, we have continuously introduced pro-youth policies like the YEA of today, Ghana Cares Obaatanpa program, YouStart, Presidential Pitch Progrom under NEIP etc. We have done all these because of our belief in youth development and empowerment. Clearly, this is proof that we are the party for the youth. Despite the giant strides made by our government in creating employment opportunities for the youth, we acknowledge the fact that much needs to be done to tackle graduate unemployment in this country which is still on the high and needs a government that will continue to deal with it.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the NDC and its lying brigade think that the only way for them to return to power is deceit and propaganda. But we want to assure them that for a party that is arithmetically challenged and cannot collate a simple elections result, in this era of artificial intelligence and fact-checking, they will not have a field day to lie to the youth and Ghanaian people. The NDC is a very dishonest party and completely allergic to truth and does this without any shame. If the NDC tells you to look up, rather, please look down. Their philosophy is that, when you see black, you say it is white. And that a sheep can be taken for a cow as espoused by Baba Jamal a for deputy minister for information.
Recently, the NDC held a presser addressed by their National Communications Officer on galamsey per a purported report by Prof. Frimpong Boateng. Yet again, to prove that they are gross and shamelessly perverse, they refused to give a truthful account of the document. Assuming without admitting to the content of the report, they flagrantly left out the part of the report that relates to their sitting member of Parliament who is heavily accused of doing galamsey. Their double standards beat any sane mind and only show that they do not have any good intentions on this issue and are as usual playing politics with such an important issue.
Friends of the media, we are all against illegal mining. The effort of this government in tackling the galamsey menace is certainly commendable. On this matter, the government stands with the people of Ghana. The NPP lost over 10 parliamentary seats due to the stance of the government against the menace, and it nearly put us in the minority in the house of parliament. The President put his presidency on the line for this cause. Whilst the President’s head was on the chopping board, the NDC executives were on the field promising galamsey operators unrestrained and uncontrolled access to illegal mining thereby making nonsense of all the efforts made to streamline it. There are videos as evidence to show as proof. In fact, it was during the regime of John Mahama that we saw the worsening state of illegal mining in Ghana. It is the period that the infamous Aisha Huang operated without control and wreaked havoc on us as a nation. We are not against mining, but it should be done in a responsible manner.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we cannot conclude this press conference without touching on the current economic situation. This government and party have admitted to the widespread economic difficulties in the country due to extreme shocks from exogenous factors, notably post covid recovery rigidities and global supply chain disruptions due to the Russia/Ukraine war. It is amazing how the leader of the NDC admits totally to these two important factors when addressing audience abroad but is quick to dismiss the relevance of these exogenous factors when he comes back home by putting all the blame on government. His hypocritical posture shows that he respects his international audience and is therefore minded to show fidelity to the facts when abroad but same cannot be said for the Ghanaians he wants to lead.
*John Mahama The Con Man**
Ghanaians have began asking themselves: is John Mahama the alternative, to NPP breaking the 8? The people are wondering because the Mahama of 2012-2016, is the same Mahama they have brought back for 2024. John Mahama remains as empty as ever. And even more unsure of himself now than ever. He is fond of throwing out policy initiatives on his campaign platform. Promises he has not thought through and has no intention of implementing if voters dare make the mistake of trying him again. In the memorable words of John Peter Amewu, “John Mahama is a con man.”
For example, he says he will scrap ex-gratia. He gave this promise in 2012 and had four years to implement it, but he did not. That is his record. He repeated the same promise in 2014 and went back to sleep. Today, he has reawaken the promise, and yet he continues to enjoy ex gratia. That is the mark of a con man.
His answer to graduate unemployment is to support Ghanaians with a couple of chicks for a backyard poultry.
But his four year record was rather to create unemployment and kill businesses with dumsor. John Mahama will turn off the lights to your dream as a young man or young woman.
The current world economy is in turmoil. Every country is experiencing significant inflation, leading to an increase in the cost of living and its attendant difficulties. We have seen serious economic crises in Europe and even America for the first time in many years. In Africa, the story is similar to 29 African countries, currently before the IMF, negotiating for one program or the other. It is for these reasons that we believe that the attempts to put the blame of the economic difficulties on Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta are uncalled for with no plausible justifications. At best, the finance minister deserves commendations for working tirelessly to secure this deal for Ghana. It is important to emphasize the point that many of the countries negotiating for programs with the IMF have spent more than a year, some more than two years yet they are yet to be given approval by the FUND. Ken Ofori-Atta has used less than a year to get Ghana this deal, and that deserves applause, not a chastisement.
We still remember how some opposition members of parliament, notably, Hon Clement Apaak and Hon Isaac Adongo, were ferocious in their claims that Ken Ofori-Atta had massaged figures and presented them to the IMF, and for that matter, there was no way the IMF would grant Ghana the US$3 Billion request. A major issue this was, but Ken Ofori-Atta weathered the storm because he did not massage any figures. The Minority Leader, Hon Cassiel Ato-Forson said on several platforms that Ghana was not going to be able to secure any deal with the IMF and that the earliest a semblance of a deal was going to be reached would be at the end of July or middle of August this year. Ladies and Gentlemen, are we in July or August? No! We are in May and have secured the deal, just as Ken Ofori-Atta predicted. We therefore wish to congratulate Hon Ken Ofori-Atta for his hard work and success in securing Ghana the IMF deal within a short period.
The Youth Wing stands with the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta. We say ayekòo for the hard work you have put in to ensure Ghana bounces back on its feet. Before Covid-19 struck, this same economy under the same man was celebrated as the fastest growing economy in the world. If through no fault of his but the fury of Mother Nature kum a major war in Eastern Europe, there is a down turn. We believe sincerely, his portion is not opprobrium and unjustified vilification. Rather, he needs encouragement to get it right and bring us all reprieve.
In conclusion, the NPP is not claiming to have solved all the problems in this country. But we are on course to do so. Indeed, this government is not made up of saints and angels but human beings who have flaws. But on the balance of any scale, we have performed better. Which do we prefer in this country? A government that is trying to solve our problems, i.e., employment, infrastructure, education, etc. or an opposition party that beats about the bush with no clear policy for this country?
The national youth wing of the NPP wants to challenge former president Mahama and his NDC party to state categorically what they have done for the Ghanaian youth and their policies aimed at empowering the youth in case of his highly unlikely return? The Ghanaian youth should be taken seriously, and that is what we stand for. Let me state that we are very clear in our minds that the NPP Government has a clear policy plan for the youth of this country and we at the national youth wing will continue to stand for the interest of the entire Ghanaian youth and populace.
Our friends from the media let me state unequivocally that the development of this country is right on our shoulders, we the young people. It should not be business as usual, but we should demand proof from politicians based on their track records of what they can do for us. Let us make better and informed decisions. This government is serving the youth of this country, and it needs your support to get it right. It is not a ‘ma try ma kwe’ situation, but our collective destinies are at stake. Today, many young people have been given hope because of free SHS and TVET policies, which are turning dreams into possibilities. This is the legacy Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will leave behind, and history will remember him. We may not appreciate him now, but certainly, his name will be written in the sands of time as for one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had. This is a government that is working for you. So help it break the 8 to continue with the development and progress for our dear motherland.
Thank you once again for honouring our invitation.
Long live the NPP!
Long live Ghana!
