According to the President, Nana Addo rather chose to espouse his plans to the electorates on a private radio station, Peace FM instead of debating him and other presidential candidates.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dQWEE3UM6gS1M2jEsi9Il1uaDK3bSNP3″]Nana Addo on Friday explained that he refused to show up at the debate because he felt both the NCCE and the state media, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which aired the programme are biased.

“The state agencies that conducted these debates are not agents that have been particularly fair to some of us in opposition. GBC acts like a propaganda wing of the ruling party, so much also the NCCE. I do not see why in those circumstances I will say I am being given the fair crack of the whip and therefore come before such an audience,” Nana Addo told Citi News’ Umaru Sanda.

But speaking at a night rally organized by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, the President, in a rebuttal, rubbished Nana Addo’s claim, describing his decision as disrespectful to Ghanaians.

“…You can have your convictions, you can have your statistics but the opportunity to prove them is when you sit with your peers. There are seven of us who have registered with the Electoral Commission to stand for President. They say come and sit down and tell Ghanaians what you want to do for them. That one too you won’t come, it is an utmost disrespect to the Ghanaian electorate and then all you say is GBC is a propaganda whatever.”

He wondered why Nana Addo equally failed to attend a debate organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) if he was indeed convinced that the GBC and the NCCE would not organise a fair debate.

“If GBC is a propaganda whatever , okay IEA too did a debate, why didn’t you go to the IEA one. If GBC is a propaganda at least you should have gone for the IEA one, that one too you run away.”

The President alleged that the NPP in a bid to “justify” Nana Addo’s decision also “asked all their MPs too not to appear for the parliamentary one that NCCE was doing.”

“What is this?… NCCE is saying here is a platform, come and tell the people what to do too he won’t go and the next day you come and you are debating Kwame Sefa Kayi. Kwame Sefa Kayi is not standing for President. You go and sit down alone and speak slangs…Come and speak the slangs at the debate, that’s where Ghanaians are expecting it,” he added.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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The presidential candidates of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), Convention People’s Party (CPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and an independent candidate, Joseph Osei Yeboah, were present at the debate with the exception of Nana Addo.

Speaking to Citi News’ Umaru Sanda Amadu in an interview at his residence, the three-time NPP Flagbearer explained that, he boycotted the debate because he felt both the NCCE and the state media, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which aired the programme are biased.

“The state agencies that conducted these debates are not agents that have been particularly fair to some of us in opposition. GBC acts like a propaganda wing of the ruling party, so much also the NCCE. I do not see why in those circumstances I will say I am being given the fair crack of the whip and therefore come before such an audience.”

He believes state institutions including the GBC and the NCCE, should be allowed to operate effectively without government’s interference.

“For me; GBC is a public broadcaster and should conduct itself as such. I do not like the idea of state owned media. What we should have are public media which operate as such, and therefore they operate under a charter which guarantees their independence and allows them to be able to comment objectively on what is going in the society at any given time, and not necessarily act as propaganda vehicles for the party of the day.”

“I will not like to take over and just apply the same principle that now GBC will be churning out pro NPP information to the people, no. I think we should get ourselves into a situation whereby GBC as a public broadcaster will make its own determination on what the public interest requires in terms of information and put it out in that way with objectivity and balance. That will be what I will urge. It is important that we have institutions that will work for the people of Ghana.”

Asked whether he will see the NCCE in the same light as he does presently should he become President, Nana Addo said : “ I will look at them with a different eye.”

Debate was needless

He also indicated that a debate with the other political parties will be needless since the various political parties had already outlined their plans on their respective campaigns.

“What will I be afraid of facing the four? The facts are that, between him and I, does it require our personal interaction? The facts that have been put out there were facts that have been out there on the campaign.”

He further condemned what he believes is President Mahama’s decision to “pick and choose which platform to appear on.”

Proffering solutions to tackle these challenges, Nana Addo suggested the formulation of models that will guide the conduct of these debates in agreed state institutions, just like other parts of the world to promote fairness.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post GBC acts like ruling party’s propaganda wing – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The debate series was designed to provide a platform to assess which of the parties in this year’s election best responds to issues affecting the youth and women.

In the packed audience were University of Ghana residents, university students, university authorities and representatives of the four major political parties- the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Peoples national Convention (PNC) and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP).

The NDC’s Lawrence Lamptey in his submission, insisted the Government has created lots of jobs particularly in the construction sector.

He pointed to the on-going infrastructural development projects, promising the NDC administration if retained will create thousands of jobs. But, all the opposition parties disagreed with the NDC’s assertions.

The NPP’s representative at the debate, Abu Jinapor, touted the party’s industrial agenda including the one district, one factory promise as the blue print for job creation.

On corruption, the general secretary of the PNC, Atik Mohammed, said the ruling party has shown that it lacked the credibility to fight corruption. He said a PNC administration will set up the office of an independent public prosecutor to prosecute corruption officials.

The CPP was represented by its parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso Wougon constituency in Greater Accra Kweku Quansah.

He debunked the notion that the private sector is the engine of growth, saying a CPP government will ensure that the government leads and provides majority of what the people need rather than leave it in the hands of the private sector.

The debate, which was held in four major public universities, commenced in March 2016, and has already taken place at the University for Development Studies Tamale campus, University of Cape Coast, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

The Tamale Debate, which was the first, took place on the 12th of March at the University of Development Studies (UDS) campus in Tamale.

The debate train later stopped at the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region on Friday 8th of April 2016, where youth leaders of the five political parties debated on the thematic areas of poverty reduction and economic development, the right to education and skills training (Youth employment), energy and natural resources, the justice system and the rule of law and women’s empowerment.

The next debate took place at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology- KNUST in August, which was an all-female contest.

About African Heights Foundation

The African Heights Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, based in Accra, Ghana, dedicated to using the tools of education, advocacy and civic participation to raise leaders and active citizens excelling in various sectors of society in Ghana and Africa.

The Foundation aims at strengthening democratic values and increasing citizens’ participation in decision making processes and thereby contributing to improved policies and practices that affects people’s lives.

The Foundation also focuses on developing leaders and citizens with a sound understanding and a deep commitment to quality education, democracy, economic development and human rights as underlying values for building a peaceful, prosperous and ambitious country.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Political parties youth debate ends with focus on joblessness, corruption appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.