The incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), has described the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), as a major threat to Ghana’s peace and democracy.
At a press conference held today [Tuesday] to respond to the NPP Presidential Candidate’s version of the state of the nation address, the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, posited that the NPP represents a major threat to Ghana’s sustained democracy.
While addressing some of the issues raised by the NDC, Mr. Asiedu Nketia sought to use the NPP’s internal wrangling against them, by describing the party as violent.
[contextly_sidebar id=”8TSnPRlnS6fS4LKflnbFthfaMVidPV9o”]”The undesirable and distasteful behavior and practice of the NPP has sought to sink Ghana’s image as a peaceful democratic nation. Their thirst for intra-party violence and unconventional methods as the preferred method for settling disagreements is seen as the major threat to our democratic practice today.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketia also accused the NPP of ignoring the huge improvement in the fight against corruption as stated by transparency international.
Nana Akufo-Addo accused the government of corruption and mentioned that the instances of over-pricing the costs of projects, the Smarttys bus -rebranding deal, the ENI deal, and the expansion of the Ridge Hospital as examples.
NPP seeking cheap political points
But Mr. Asiedu Nketia says the NPP event which was purported to give a more accurate reflection of state of the nation, showed that the opposition had lost touch with the developments in the country and were only seeking to score empty political points.
We had high marks for fighting corruption
According to Mr. Asiedu Nketia, the NPP failed to point out credible and measurable alternatives to the areas they challenged as shortfalls in the fight against corruption.
“It is expected that the opposition will seize the opportunity provided by the president to indicate clearly areas where they differ, point to credible unmistakable and measurable alternatives they wish to put on the table for consideration by the people,” he stated.
He further cited the corruption index report by the civil society organization, Transparency International, which awarded their government high marks for fighting corruption.
“They are quoting the IMANIs and the CDDs, Afro barometers and so on. They are running away from Transparency International and everybody knows where these NGOs are coming from.”
He further highlighted what the NDC called the paradox of combating corruption where the vice will be perceived to be on the rise only because the government is exposing it.
“They will be talking about corruption when you are in power and they will be creating the impression that because you are exposing it, you are the one who is doing the corruption but we are committed. We are not going to give up; we will continue exposing,” he said.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana