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@Obi-ba, I beg to differ. Giving the NPP a straight 3rd term will be a direct reward for mediocrity, severe corruption, and business as usual. Given the resources that this government has received, whether from heavy taxation and duty raises, grants, or the unprecedented high level of loans and euro bonds raised by Ofori Atta, they certainly could have done at least 10 times more than what they have done. Instead, there have been massive leakages of funds into people's bedrooms and alleged poly tanks, among other channels. I do not think the NDC is any better or worse, but alternating these two disappointing parties will be a more prudent and pragmatic way of managing our democracy and resources until we get a credible third option. Touching on the projects that have been undertaken by the government, I do not doubt that the education sector has been phenomenal, even though I disagree with the idea of sharing 1 tablet per student. It's not sustainable, and the government can only be motivated by vote hunting to use such a ridiculous approach. As for digitisation, I think if people are honest with themselves, they will see that it cannot be considered the main achievement when internet access is still limited and expensive. This severely limits people's desire to embrace a technological way of doing things. It's erroneous and deceptive for anyone to call digitisation projects the flagships of this government. These are the ideas of people that they're trying to implement in their own way, or if by chance they come into contact with Bawumia, then he gets involved and takes credit for them. The pharmacy app is an example. I personally know the gentleman who started the whole thing on his own, and later got in contact with Bawumia who supported it. Now Bawumia presents it as if he conceived the idea. That's high-level academic dishonesty. I don't want to assume that just like Akufo, whose inaugural speech was plagiarised, Bawumia doesn't have any problems claiming people's IP as his own. To convince me that Bawumia is doing anything useful in the digital space, he needs to first ensure that there's affordable internet available to everyone, rich or poor. That's the bedrock for any serious digitisation agenda. Secondly, he needs to create working systems or frameworks where no one needs to know anyone before they can convert their ideas into useful tangible products. He can strategically create enablers at the basic school level, and we can identify a specialty area where we can develop ourselves and become global leaders in those areas. Lastly, he should dissociate himself from people's projects. He can cite them and credit the people behind them. Without these foundational structures, it's like Bawumia using our money to build huge mansions on water runways without any foundations. Without these foundational structures, they're mere populist appeasing projects. They're very short-lived, and only simpletons will applaud him for those.
The point is, given the track records of the main political parties, the NPP and the NDC, if I had to choose between them, I would go for the NPP. Because, among other things, education and the digitalisation projects are not doing badly, the progress is remarkable and I bet they are not exaggerated. Drug delivery by drone to remote rural areas in Ghana and mobile money are working efficiently. These strategic ventures, flagship projects, cannot be said of the NDC government when they have the mandate and form governments, so I think the NPP should break the 8 so that the NDC can keep its own counsel and re-energize itself as a democratic party with ideology and traditions that can be translated into policies and projects. Then, if Ghana has chosen democracy to develop, we should understand that political parties in the multi-party space have unity of purpose and is a continuum as we develop going forward. It is therefore incumbent on the political parties to sell their better alternative ideas that will translate into quality of life.
@Obi-ba, I commend you for your recent disposition and tone. This is the approach we all need to adopt in order to move our country forward. It is essential to recognise that a healthy progressive democracy requires dissenting opinions and opposition. I agree with you that the NDC is not doing themselves or Ghanaians any favours by being vague about the policy alternatives they are proposing. On the other hand, the NPP is also exaggerating their achievements and often ends up scoring own goals and hindering progress for Ghana. In particular, Dr. Bawumia cannot propose completely different ways of doing things without acknowledging the ideological differences between him and the president. This raises important conflicts and suggests some hidden dishonesty by one of them. As you mentioned, government is supposed to be a continuum. Therefore, if the current government is already on the right track, Dr. Bawumia should be proposing new ideas to build upon what is already being done in order for us to progress as a nation. Instead, he is telling us that he is his own man and will do things differently from President Akufo Addo. For example, while President Akufo Addo believes in heavy taxation and high custom duties, Dr. Bawumia intends to implement lower taxes and duties with a flat rate. Does this mean that he does not agree with President Akufo Addo's philosophy? If so, what is his role in this government when he fundamentally differs in such a crucial ideology? He must be transparent about these matters when addressing the public, as sweeping them under the carpet will not be helpful.
By the way, you have asked good questions here and we are making progress in realising how important it is for political parties to tell us what policies they have in store for us in order to get our mandate. The NPP governments do not claim to have given us all the tools to improve our livelihoods. But at least they are touching on policies that will inspire us to get there. Democratic government is a continuum of purpose, but with different approaches and different agendas. So it is very important for political parties to campaign on policies to get our votes. Then we need many enablers: good education, relevant skills, health care and so many others. Today we are talking about the digital revolution and how best we are prepared to integrate it with our systems. My concern is that the NDC is spending too much time on lies and malicious propaganda to tear down its opponents and neglecting to present its policies. You see, my dear Mr. Barima, our short communication has shown that without planned policy intervention, our desire for a high standard of living and a low cost of living will be in a vicious circle.
@obi-ba, so you see that you the so called educated, are the one misusing words here, if you agree that a high standard of living is not automatic and that people have to work for it, on what grounds do you say Ghanaians have a high standard of living? In the advanced countries, we say people generally have a high standard of living because people earn wages that can afford them a decent standard of living. Here in Ghana, majority of the people who work very hard earn almost nothing and cannot even afford basic necessities, so you can't use a few privileged ones or political steaIers to conclude that there is a high standard of living in this country, that's so untrue. Rather, there's a very high cost of living in this country to extent that only a very few people can afford high standard of living. So in a nutshell, majority of Ghanaians have very low standard of living. Let me give you one free advice, don't be too quick to tout your accolades , you don't know what others have and are discreet about it. That's what Akufo Addo rushed to say "we have the men, we have the men" and now it has come to light that he meant "we have the steaIers, we have the incompetent ones, we have the mediocres, we have the wicked"
A high standard of living is not automatic anywhere in the world. You have to work for it and maintain it. Even in the almighty USA a lot of people are homeless and their quality of life is not the best. Of course if you are poorly educated and cannot read between the lines, you vote for a political party like the NDC, you are denied the opportunity to improve your livelihood.
@Obi-ba, get it right, there's no automatic high standard of living in Ghana. High standard of living is not widespread across of social classes, it's not automatically enjoyed by the poor common man who constitute the majority of our population. Tell me, did you or do you send your kids to government basic schools? It comes at a relatively very high cost. Education is nothing to write home about, in this era, we should have been seeing complimentary infrastructural development and quality delivery of teaching and learning across the country but that is obviously lacking. Health is even worse, unless you can pay at premium hospitals like UG hospital and some few private hospitals, forget quality care, it's mostly rubbish down there. Only UG hospital and a handful of them practice ALS for instance. I am confident that about 80% of deaths reported in Ghana could have been reversed if we had a working health system. So don't create the impression that high standard of living is accessible to most people, it comes at a very high cost that only a few can afford it. All your revered leaders don't use your health systems anyway.
And yet those who think they know better get it wrong because they equate the high standard of living and improved quality of life with the high cost of living. The NHI, good health care and good education contribute to quality of life or a more valuable standard of living. And as the mortality rate increases, people are living longer. That is why the NPP government has embarked on policies to improve social amenities. As opposed to the NDC's stance of vile propaganda for political power. Hence, they seem to know the cost of everything but the value for none.
@obi-ba, over the years, the NPP has portrayed themselves as intellectuals, yet their conduct and performance in recent times show that they're the exact opposite of that. However, arrogance is eating them up as obi-ba is exemplifying here. What do standard of living and cost of living mean that only you understand it? You are implying that our standard of living in Ghana is very high, Alhassan also says that our cost of living is very high. How does this suppose that he doesn't understand the terms or that he has contradicted yours? Empty arrogance, empty cymbals always making the most noise. For your information, granted that your assertion is true, Ghanaians are paying much more for the same standard of living that others receive elsewhere. Hence, the correlation is that, for the same standard of living between Ghana and Togo for instance, Ghana pays about 5 times what Togo pays. Thus, our cost of living is really high compared to even our neighbouring countries, and those who cannot afford it have extremely low standard of living.
The politicians in Ghana,dumb as they have always been, think the world revolves around them. They speak as if in elections the electorate don't even matter at all. Because they go heaven and earth to steal the verdict of the people.Tbey neither read nor feel the time of the o.rdinary Ghanaian. The same condition's that brought the most corrupt, incompetent and arrogant government in the history of our beloved country into power have worsened under them and somehow they think they're the best thing that has happened to Ghana for which reason an unprecedented 3rd consecutive term is not even up for debate! Incredulous! They live in a different world and that's clear because the Ghana they live in is not the Ghana the majority of authentic Ghanaians live in!