The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has asked President John Dramani Mahama to stop making heroes out of a half job done.
“With due respect, Mr President, dumsor is not completely over. Even yesterday, some parts of the country slept in darkness. The President must, therefore, tread with caution and stop making heroes out of a half job done,” the PPP stated in a statement to react to the President’s State of the Nation address on Thursday.
The Constitution mandates the President to report to Parliament at least once a year all the steps it had taken to ensure the realisation of the policy objectives and, in particular, the realisation of basic human rights, a healthy economy, the right to work, the right to good health care and the right to education.
The PPP statement signed by the partys’ National Secretary, Mr Murtala Mohammed, also pointed out that the loud silence on the much-touted single digit inflation was enough evidence of an economic nightmare.
“Today,” according to the PPP statement, “ our inflation is 17 per cent plus and the cedi is continuously wobbling against the dollar. Agricultural growth is 0.004 per cent and interest rate is as high as 27 per cent. Not to mention the debt toll in the country.”
Health
On health, the PPP said it was unfortunate the President paid no heed to the death toll in the case of an preventable disease such as the pneumococcal meningitis that had claimed 100 Ghanaian lives.
“It’s a clear indication that the President has no respect for Ghanaian lives. How can the President overlook the death of 100 Ghanaians who died because of the pneumococcal meningitis yet was quick to court parliamentary sympathy by mentioning the death of the Hon. J.B. Dankwah?” the statement queried.
Corruption
Over the last seven years, the statement pointed out, Ghanaians had been witnesses to the most glaring cases of corruption in public office as well as organised crimes perpetuated by institutions such as GYEEDA, AZONTABA, SADA, SUBA and most recently the BUS BRANDING SAGA.
“The PPP will like to reiterate that the surest way of checking corruption in this country is to separate the Attorney General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice. This is the only way to resolve this canker of corruption”, the party stressed.
Education
On education, the PPP indicated that “until we give our children free and compulsory education from kindergarten to the secondary school level, we cannot pat ourselves on the shoulder and claim to have done so much in education. Our Constitution is clear on education and cannot be adulterated by anyone for political gains.”
“According to Child Rights International, about two million Ghanaian children are not in school. These statistics are alarming and negates all the achievement John Mahama is trumpeting”, the PPP stated.
DKM
“The President’s attempt to hide under the cover of Bank of Ghana to ward off all blames regarding the DKM saga cannot be acceptable”, the party insisted, saying that the Government of Ghana has the mandate to monitor and correct every public institution in Ghana.
“After all, we have ceded our individual rights to create the sovereign State, and given Parliament and the President, the constitutional mandate to make laws and execute these on our behalf,” the PPP added.
According to the PPP, the President could not turn his back on the people when they had been swindled due to the negligence of one state institution. The Government of Ghana, the statement said, must ensure it stepped into the matter; punished the culprits and rescue the poor.
The PPP concluded that the President’s approach to serious issues in a light or comical manner was making the Presidency look indifferent to the plight of Ghanaians.
It, therefore, called on well-meaning and like-minded progressive Ghanaians to rise to the occasion and lead a coalition to vote out the current government in the interest of the future of our children.
By: Dan K. Prince//dailyviewgh.com
Editor’s Email: dailyviewgh@gmail.com
