FLAGBEARER of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has charged Ghanaians to vote to change the trajectory of the country in December because the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Citing the latest Afrobarometer democracy risk report which says 87 per cent of Ghanaians thought the country was headed in the wrong direction, former President Mahama said the NPP government which has led Ghana into what he considers crisis can’t be trusted to fix the problem.
“Ghana is at an important juncture in its history and the decision we make on December 7 is going to reflect on the future of this country.
“If you are going in the wrong direction, you change your course and that is why on December 7, Ghana must change course. We cannot solve the crisis in which we are with the same people who caused the crisis in the first place. The time has come for us to make a change,” the former President said at the NDC’s national campaign launch here in Tamale on Saturday.
The launch which brought thousands of NDC supporters from across the country was on the theme, ‘Change to Reset Ghana.’
According to the NDC leader, an experienced hand was needed to steer the country from the economic quagmire it finds itself and as a former President, he possesses that required competences to reset Ghana on the path of progress and prosperity.
“The youth of this country want an experienced safe pair of hands, a hand that they have seen do it before to come back and take this country and rescue us from the mess in which we have been dumped by the Akufo-Addo- Bawumia government,” he said to loud cheers from the gathering.
The former President said the situation appears worse than the picture being painted by the government and that it would take a lot of hard work and he alone could not do it without the support and cooperation of every citizen.
Having been out of government for almost eight years, former President Mahama said he did his best though things were not perfect, the country made progress under his watch.
If given the nod again, Mr Mahama promise that “I will be truthful to you and will never tell you lies. I won’t tell you things that I can’t do.”
Ghana’s problem, he identified, has been the focus on short term policies to win elections and in the process not creating the foundation for the economy to take off.
“My pledge to you is that we will work hard, day and night to make sure that we reset the fortunes of this country.”
Dismissing the spin by his political opponents that he has only one four year term to serve as President, Mr Mahama said four years of a good leader would make more positive impact than eight years of a dishonest leader stressing that “it is not about how long you serve but how well you serve.”
Professor Naana Jane Opoku- Agyemang, the running mate for the NDC, revealed that one million women were earmarked to get credit from the yet-to-be established Women’s Development Bank to make stress-free credit available to them to undertake their businesses.
She said the opposition party remained committed to the establishment of the bank to advance soft loans to the women to economically empower them.
The contribution of women to the socio-economic wellbeing of the country, Prof. Opoku- Agyemang said could not be overstated.
“We are the ones who take care of the children and the home. We are the ones who ensure that everybody is at peace and when there is peace at home, there is peace in the community and in the country.
“So this bank is to serve the interest of women and ensure that we can reach as many women as possible. The bank will operate by looking at the amount of money the woman needs and we have targeted one million women to benefit from the soft credit,” she explained.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, TAMALE
