The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has commended the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for providing economic relief to Ghanaians since taking office in 2016.
According to him, since the NPP deposed the NDC in 2016, the country has seen significant growth in terms of economic and social activities, freeing the citizenry from the untold hardships endured during the NDC’s reign.
“When you talk about suffering, for sure we have reduced suffering; you cannot say you have eliminated suffering, but compared to what we inherited from the NDC, we have reduced a lot of suffering.”
Dr. Bawumia kicked against the NDC’s “Rescue Ghana Mission” campaign slogan,stating that the country was rescued in 2017 when the NPP assumed office.
Dr. Bawumia reminded Ghanaians that the NDC government had to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout in 2015 because of the mishandling of the economy, but he was quick to add that in 2017, the NPP implemented the Free SHS Programme, which cut the burden on parents by about 2.2 billion Ghana cedis.
“This economy had to be rescued by the IMF; they had to go for a rescue; that was the real rescue mission, as a price of the mismanagement of this economy, which went off track,” he stated.
Dr. Bawumia, comparing and contrasting the NPP and NDC governments, stressed that the NDC’s freezing of employment in the public sector, which gave birth to graduate unemployment, a lack of postings for trained nurses and teachers, dumsor, and the inability of the NDC government to support the private sector all contributed to ripping economic woes and untold hardships for Ghanaians before the NPP took power.
Dr. Bawumia noted that Ghanaians are now enjoying better lives than the hardship experienced under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, citing the Free SHS program, Planting for Food and Jobs, the restoration of nurses’ trainee allowances, the Nation Builders’ Corps, and the over 2 million jobs created as contributing factors to the growth of the country.