NPP NEWS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY JOHN BOADU, AG. GENERAL SECRETARY

INSULTS WON’T CREATE JOBS OR FIX THE ECONOMY, MR PRESIDENT
NPP NEWS CONFERENCE
ADDRESSED BY JOHN BOADU, AG. GENERAL SECRETARY
THURSDAY, AUG 25, 2016

Since officially launching their campaign in Cape Coast recently, the National Democratic Congress, led by President John Dramani Mahama, has made it clear how they intend to wage their campaign. After eight straight years in office and seeking to extend it to 12 years if elected this December, Ghana’s party in office, the NDC, intend to, once again, prosecute a campaign of lies and insults against Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party.

The attack, much to our bemusement, is being led by the Commander-in-Chief himself, President John Dramani Mahama. It is said, ladies and gentlemen, if you want to know the true colour of a person, see how he behaves when under pressure. John Mahama, from his time as PRO at the Japanese Embassy to becoming an MP, to being picked as the running mate to Prof JEA Mills, may his soul rest in perfect peace, portrayed himself as “a nice man.”

But, after destroying the legacy the late President left him in 2012, and watching helplessly power slipping through his reckless, incompetent, corrupt and insensitive hands, President Mahama is now showing his true colours. Rather than addressing the myriad of problems the country is facing, he has reduced his bid for re-election to a manifesto of lies and insults against Nana Akufo-Addo. The President is talking as if he is possessed. He is using words as if he is seeing double.

First he insults Akufo-Addo for daring to re-echo the cries of the people of the Western Region over the bad state of their roads. Then, he dares to accuse Nana Akufo-Addo, one of the foremost champions in the struggle against military dictatorship and for democracy and freedoms, as a “dictator” and a “danger” to Ghana’s democracy.

President Mahama, who calls himself a historian, is a disgrace to patriotism. Rather than insulting our heroes, he should be thankful to courageous patriots such as Nana Akufo-Addo who put their own lives in danger and stood at the forefront of the fight against military dictatorship in Ghana. Thanks to brave patriots like Nana Akufo-Addo, John Mahama is now the leader of a democratic Ghana, who is so pleased with himself that he is now fighting desperately for another term.

We are tempted to ask, what influence was the President under to call Akufo-Addo a dictator? Or is he so intoxicated by his desire to hold on to a power that is fast slipping away that, in desperation, he is now prepared to say whatever and do whatever in the hope to perpetuate his bad leadership on the people of Ghana?

The President would do well to learn from what the Good Book says in 1st Corinthians 10:23: “I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” – but not everything is constructive.’

We wish to tell the President that the New Patriotic Party is not divided. We wish to tell him that the only fight that the NPP is involved in is the fight to rid Ghana of his bad leadership.

All the people who contested against Akufo-Addo in the 2010 presidential primaries are at the forefront of the NPP campaign today. Alan Kyerematen is at the right side of Nana Akufo-Addo, travelling up and down the country, preaching a positive message of change to the suffering masses of Ghana.
Francis Addai-Nimoh, Joe Ghartey, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, and all of them are fully committed to an Akufo-Addo victory.

A party that gives its leader over 94% of its grassroots support cannot be said to be split in the middle. No amount of voodoo mathematics can change this fact.

The NPP is a peaceful, political party. We are proud of our non-violent history and our faith in the rule of law and democracy. We have in Akufo-Addo a man whose record is an open book. He has fought against dictatorship and for human rights, for freedoms, for democracy, for rule of law, for reconciliation and unity in Ghana, and for peace and security for other countries throughout his 40-year record of public service. No amount of poisonous propaganda from a President who is staggering his way through his responsibilities, will change a record that is forever etched in the annals of our nation’s history.

Now, let us take a look at the man in the mirror, the leader who is calling others divisive and intolerant.

You recall that on Friday, 27 November, the Ag National Chairman of the NPP addressed the nation, where we exposed that much of the problems in the NPP were orchestrated, sponsored, and fueled by the ruling party. And, have you also noticed that since that time and for the whole of 2016, the reports of NPP on NPP have all stopped. The bickering has ceased. This is so because the party took decisive measures to tackle those things. We cannot bring back the dead, but it is worthy of note that the two party people who sadly lost their lives in 2015, the victims, were both known to be strong supporters of Akufo-Addo. It was not the other way round.

Let me just read back a few lines from the November 27 statement as a useful reminder:

“Desperate to hand on to power in spite of its abysmal performance, the Mahama administration, according to a preponderance of information we have, has therefore put aside a huge budget and a crack team, supported by elements in the National Security set up, to make the job of attempting to damage the NPP a top priority. To the ruling NDC, creating confusion in the NPP is a more competent and convenient way to gain electoral advantage than fixing the myriad of problems they have visited on the country…

“ President Mahama is desperate and believes he can use this fiction of confusion to snatch for his party a third consecutive term in office. Already, he has started with the focus of his recent campaign speeches. These attacks on the NPP, and the deliberate dragging of the party’s image in the mud have followed a clear pattern in the last year or so. Our major worry is that the plot is getting thicker and more deadly. We believe if we do not bring focus to this evil plot now, more lives could be lost and our democracy could be severely damaged…. National Security personnel and others who have made it their industry to invest in the creation of confusion and sponsoring raids and physical attacks, we are saying to them for goodness sake: PLEASE STOP! Stop being used for evil. Your job is to protect the people and not to destroy!”

Our determination to stop the bastardisation of our party, through intelligent leadership, is what has led to what is obvious to all Ghanaians today – a united NPP, focused on prosecuting a constructive campaign of issues to win power freely and fairly through prayers, hard work and a positive message.

Now, let us look at the evidence of who has been the cause of divisions in the country. After failing to portray the NPP as divided, President Mahama has succeeded in dividing Ghana.

Under Mahama, as leader of both NDC and Ghana, we now have one law for the NDC and another for the majority of Ghanaians.

Tomorrow, thanks to President Mahama, three men who led a campaign to visit deaths and rape on our Supreme Court judges have had their prison terms commuted and will be out after just serving a quarter of it. The President is prepared to let the judges of this country live and work in constant fear of being killed than see those who have put the lives of our judges at risk spend just four months behind bars.

Under President Mahama, we now have two Ghanas: one Ghana for the NDC and another Ghana for the rest of the country. If you are found to be corrupt, a thief or you violently attack persons, you can be sure of getting away with it if you are NDC, because in Mahama we have a president who is divisive and tolerant of crime when committed by his own people.

There are several instances where his own party people have been attacking his own appointees whenever there are disagreements over the sharing and beneficiaries of contracts and corrupt deals at the district level. And, in not a single one of these instances has any NDC member been arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted. Not one!

President Mahama is tolerant when it comes to crimes committed by his own people. Let it be emphasized that under John Mahama there are two Ghanas – one for the NDC and the other for the rest of us. This is the true, evidence-based John Mahama.

Last October, the Ahafo Ano North Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Awuni, was left fighting for his life after being stabbed repeatedly in the head by the NDC Constituency Treasurer, Adams Alhassan. This violent incident happened in the presence of President John Mahama when he addressed party officials in Kumasi on Sunday, 19th October, 2015. The perpetrator of this attempted murder, an NDC party office holder, was immediately granted police bail and continues to walk as a free man. Our information is that the misunderstanding was over cash.

Two days earlier, on 17th October, this time in the Eastern Region, known NDÇ footsoldiers abducted and tortured their own New Juaben North constituency chairman, Owaahene Acheampong. Again, the issue was over cash. He was accused of pocketing money sent to him from the Communications Minister, Dr Omane Boamah. Not a single person is facing the law over this matter, according to our checks.

We do not have time to go through the tall list of NDC on NDC violence that have occurred in the last two years alone with John Mahama as the leader of the party.

However, below are a few examples (just 10 randomly selected) of violent attacks by his own people on his own people, which he has tolerated because he believes in the democratization of NDC violence.

1. Atebubu Amantin DCE’s bungalow was ransacked and robbed by known NDC activists – 31st March, 2016. No arrests.

2. DCE of Kwahu South and his supporters had violent clashes with Mpraeso NDC constituency executives – 6th August, 2015. No arrests!

3. DCE of Atiwa, Emmanuel Atta Twum, collapsed and hospitalised after mercilessly beaten by known NDC members, led by NDC constituency executives – 24th July, 2015. No arrests!

4. DCE of Gomoa East was violently attacked at an official meeting by his own NDC party members, led by constituency executives – 31st Aug, 2014. No arrests!

5. DCE for Ahafo Ano South, Gabriel Barimah, violently attacked by NDC footsoldiers led by known constituency executives – 1st April, 2014. No arrests!

6. DEC for Atwima Nwabiagya, Nana Asare Bediako, was jumped on and mercilessly beaten by NDC footsoldiers led by known constituency executives – 3rd April, 2014. No arrests!

7. Sissala West District DCE, Moses Luri, attacked and beaten to pulp by NDC youth activists. He accused the Upper West Regional Minister of being behind it – 29th October, 2014. No arrests!

8. Nkwanta South DCE was shot dead. Yes, shot dead – 4th November, 2014. Known NDC activists were identified; false attempts were made to make it a chieftancy issue. Up to date, little is heard of the progress of the prosecution. Nobody jailed!

9. Nkroranza North DCE was violently attacked by NDC activists instigated by NDC constituency officers – 6th January, 2016. No arrests!

10. Chiana-Paga DCE, Nonterah, attacked and hospitalised by known NDC activists protected by party executives – 27th June, 2016. No arrests!

We wish to assure Ghanaians that Nana and Bawumia are out there campaigning on issues and will not be distracted by the insults of a desperate President John Mahama who can see power slipping away from his reckless, corrupt, incompetent and insensitive hands.

Nana and Bawumia are humbly begging, yes begging for your vote because they know they can do a better job for you, for Ghana than what we are seeing now under arrogant and insensitive John Mahama who has lost touch with the concerns of the people.

Nana and Bawumia and our parliamentary candidates will not insult Mahama back because that is not what will fix your problems.

Nana, Bawumia and NPP PCs have not stolen Ghana’s money to use a small fraction of it to try and buy your votes. Our votes are not for sale!

Nana, Bawumia and our PCs are campaigning on things that matter to the people:
(i) on how NPP will fix the economy broken by Mahama and his NDC friends and family;
(ii) fix dumsor and make electricity affordable for families and business again;
(iii) revive agriculture;
(iv) create viable industries with the private sector in every inhabited corner of the country mainly through the 1 District 1 Factory policy;
(v) how the NPP will cure the cancer of corruption made worse by Mahama and his cronies and use the money saved to fix our roads, schools, provide facilities for our hospitals, and support poor people to stand on their own two feet.

You can trust Nana and Bawumia to use Ghana’s cash to deliver for you. Ghana is safer in their hands. Nana and Bawumia are all about how to give hope to young people and bring back confidence in the Ghanaian economy.

We believe the greatest threat to the peace and unity of this country is the kind of leadership John Mahama is giving Ghana. A leadership that has brought unemployment, economic hardships and hopelessness.
In conclusion, we wish to assure those who wish as evil and, more importantly, reassure the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians who wish us well, that the New Patriotic Party under the able and competent leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo and his running mate Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia is more determined than ever to bring the change Ghana needs in 2016. We will get Ghana back to work. We will bring back integrity to the business of government and restore the pride and dignity of institutions of state. And we will ensure the protection of the rights of the people — all people, including those who oppose us politically.

Thank you.