Ursula slams NDC for taking Ghanaians on a ‘fanciful promising spree’

The Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has described the opposition National Democratic Congress manifesto as a cocktail of lies and truths.

The Ablekuma West lawmaker said the much-bragged about opposition party’s manifesto offered no hope.

In an interview with Accra based Citi FM, monitored by theghanareport.com, Mrs Owusu Ekuful slammed the NDC for taking Ghanaians on a promising spree with little substance.

“They claim they say what people want to hear, but it is a mixture of lies and truth. In the run-up to the elections, the NDC goes to the various constituencies and packaged this.

“They package what people want to hear, hoping that it will be sweet enough in their ears,” she said.

She said the NDC had a long history of promising what it could not deliver, adding that it was the party’s only way to sway the public.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful noted that such old practice may have worked in the past but “certainly not today’s Ghana”.

When asked if she wasn’t in the least bit scared about all the policies the NDC intended to offer when given the nod, she simply said “no.”

“For them, any such exercise is an exercise of duplicity. They have not talked about any key thing. In 2016, they were on the same promising spree. When a naked man says he will give you a cloth, listen to his name,” she said literally translating an Akan proverb.

Rallying the public to vote for the NPP, she urged Ghanaians to assess the track record and performance of the two candidates–President Nana Akufo-Addo and former President Mahama and judge the two on that basis.

“Just look at somebody promising something he knows he can never deliver,” he said in reference to the NDC flagbearer.

She, however, showered praises on President Akufo-Addo, as a man who kept his word.

Prior to manifesto launch on Monday, the NDC had set up a committee to ask 30 million Ghanaians what their needs and aspirations were ahead of the general elections.

The party had bragged about how its manifesto was going to be superior to that of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

They called it the ‘People’s Manifesto’. The party rescheduled its 2020 manifesto launch twice.

The event was earlier scheduled for August 31 and later pushed to September 7, this year.

Some policies that were captured in the manifesto include, a four-month maternity leave, an airport to be constructed at the Upper East Region, a review of the free senior high school programme, lift the ban on salvaged vehicles among others.

The manifesto captured its Agenda one million jobs for the youth and the Big Push- a $10-billion Infrastructure programme–both aimed at curbing unemployment within the country.

Its arch-rival, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched its manifesto on August 22, 2020, with a promise to provide leadership of service that will transform the country forever.

The event took place at the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region.

The NPP intends to build a port and an airport in the Central Region. It also promised to support entry-level workers with rent loans, remove guarantors for student loans and release $200 million for skills and entrepreneurship development.

The launch which was on the theme “leadership of service, protecting our progress, transforming Ghana for all” brought together the rank and file of the party.

Present at the event was the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife Mrs Samira Bawumia, the Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Opare and Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu among others.

Other political parties, who have taken a cue include Leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) Kofi Akpaloo.

Leader of the party, Kofi Akpaloo, at the manifesto launch promised to set up a US$10 billion job fund to support entrepreneurs and start-ups to help them develop their businesses.