The Deputy National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Malik Basintale, has accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of plagiarism. According to him, the NPP stole over 50 policies from the NDC’s 2020 manifesto.
Speaking on GHOne TV, the outspoken politician alleged that those stolen policies were also listed in the NDC’s youth manifesto, which was launched on August 12, 2024, six days before the NPP launched its manifesto.
He explained that the, “One million coder program for young graduates, it was in our 2020 manifesto, Bawumia stole it. [On] Page 13 of our youth manifesto again we repeated it, the same thing, word for word”.
“John Mahama promised free tertiary for [people with] disabilities in 2020, we are going to repeat it, Bawumia has stolen it and they have put it in their manifesto, page 27 of their manifesto.
“Abolishing E-Levy and [sports] betting tax, President Mahama didn’t bring E-levy, he didn’t bring betting tax, he said he will abolish it, Ghanaians believe him and they trust him,” he added.
He expressed the opinion that the NPP government, of which Dr. Bawumia is a member, originated the sports betting tax and E-levy, and that the Vice President could abolish them now if he wants to, rather than waiting until 2025.
Mr. Basintale further argued that “John Mahama says the next NDC government will establish a Women’s Bank, NPP were criticizing this policy, I heard people in their party ranting, lying, little did they know that Bawumia was about to steal this policy.”
The NDC executive went on to mention that the NDC’s policy of providing a $50 million fund to strengthen the Fintech industry has also made its way into the NPP’s 2024 manifesto.