NPP damns NDC over 'revised election manifesto'

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of surreptitiously revising its 2008 manifesto to evade the fulfillment of all its electoral promises.

The NPP believes the move is a deception and a fraud against the people of Ghana.

Addressing a press conference in Accra to officially review the government's 100 days, the Chairman of the party, Peter Mac Manu, said the government had shown it was weak and lacks ideas to develop the country.

According to him, the NDC had expunged the promises from the manifesto recognizing that it was incapable of delivering on them.

"In a show of mediocrity and lack of faith in its own abilities, the vision of taking Ghana to middle income status by 2015 has been shifted to 2020."

Mr. Mac Manu claimed that on page six of the original NDC manifesto, the NDC promised to motivate teachers by improving salaries, accommodation and retirement benefits.

"They said they were going to pay licensed teachers and professionals allowance of 15 per cent of the basic salary, pay technical and vocational teachers an additional 10 per cent of their basic salary and lastly, they said they were going to pay teachers in deprived areas an additional 20 per cent of their basic salary," he pointed out.

But in the revised manifesto, he contended, all the promises catalogued earlier have been taken out. "This is the deceit we are talking about."

The NPP Chairman also enumerated increases in prices of commodities, fuel price hikes and possible tariff increases in utilities and argued the government was simply incapable of dealing with the economic problems of the country.

He consequently called on the government to call a crisis meeting with economic experts within 21 days to discuss and find solutions to the debilitating economic challenges of the country.

He also called on all Ghanaians, regardless of their political persuasions, to help the government to fix the moribund economy of the country. "It is a duty we owe to our motherland."

Responding to the claims, Information Minister, Zita Okaikoi told Joy News the NDC had only one manifesto, as far as she knew.

JFM