Opinion piece: The NDC and NPP are not the same.

Opinion piece: The NDC and NPP are not the same.

By the end of 2024, the NPP would have spent 16 years in office with NDC’s 16 years, since Ghana crossed over to multi-party democracy in 1992. Do you know that in the 4th republic, almost every single Mega state investment serving its purpose now, from hospitals to universities, roads, etc was done by the NDC? Have a look at these few projects and make your own judgment as to whether the NDC and NPP are the same.

• Tamale Teaching Hospital was done by NDC
• New Ridge Hospital was done by the NDC
• UGMC was done by the NDC
• Maritime Hospital was done by NDC
• The Bank Hospital was done by NDC
• New Shai Osudoku hospital was done by the NDC
• Wa Regional Hospital was done by the NDC
• Tepa, Konongo, Fomena Hospitals were done by the NDC

I have not mentioned the many hospitals under the euroget projects Former President Kufuor never secured funding for, and which were built by the NDC when they took over in 2009.

Now to Education;

• University for Development studies Was done by NDC
• University of Allied Health Sciences was done by NDC
• The University of Energy and Natural Resources was done by NDC
• The University of Environment and Sustainable Development was done by the NDC.
• Wa Regional library was done by NDC.

Here comes Transportation;

• Kotoka Terminal 3 was done by the NDC
• The Kumasi Airport facelift was done by NDC
• Tamale Airport upgrade was done by NDC
• Ho Airport was done by NDC
• Wa Airstrip was done by NDC
• Tema Habour expansion was done NDC
• Takoradi Habour Expansion was done by the NDC
• Circle, Kasoa, Pokuase, Motorway, Obetsebi, etc interchanges were done by the NDC
• Tema to Mpakadan railway, revamp of Takoradi rail network.
• Mega Revenue Generating Investment;
• Atuabo Gas Plant was done by NDC
• Ameri and Karpower barge were done by NDC
• Komenda sugar factor was done by the NDC
• Kejetia Market was done by the NDC
• Kotokuraba Market was done by the NDC

I have not listed the 200 E-Blocks and the over 1000 CHPS compound and the many satellites Markets in many other districts in Ghana.

The numerous Polyclinics and other life-changing health centers. If you look at projects like the Atuabo Gas plant, Kotoka Terminal 3, Tamale and Kumasi airports, Tema and Takoradi Habour expansions, Kejetia and Kotokuraba markets, Ameri and Karpower plants are all revenue-generating investments the NDC made for Ghana. Today, these investments are bringing in billions of cedis in revenue to Ghana.

When it comes to rural electrification, the 16 years of the NDC under the 4th republic has seen more communities, towns and villages getting connected to the national grid than that of the NPP’s almost 16 years.

If you look at all these and you mischievously say the NDC is not an alternative and that both NPP and NDC are the same, then you have just refused to be objective.

Of the over 500 billion cedis Akufo Addo and Bawumia have borrowed, show me just one national projects they have started and completed that is well-positioned to pay for itself. When John Mahama had 200 million dollars, he used it to build Saglemi housing projects which the NPP now want to sell to themselves. With 400 million dollars, Akufo Addo is building a cathedral after demolishing new houses built for judges.

Every single thing the NPP critiqued Mills, Mahama and Amissah Arthur about, they have done the worst. If it is about borrowing, they have borrowed more than any other government in the history of Ghana.

If it is about corruption, the worst corruption perception rating John Mahama had by transparency international, is still better than Akufo Addo’s best rating.

The NDC and NPP are never the same, they will never be the same and they can never be the same. You may not like the NDC because of your tribal orientation but it is a fact that in Ghana’s history especially in the 4th republic where the two leading parties have all spent almost 16 years each in power, the NPP has proven to be the worst spectacle in this period.

The NDC is not a party of saints and obviously, when they are in government, they have their problems but every reasonable person knows, even amid their shortcomings, they always deliver on the core things that bring progress to Ghana. The NPP has been around even before the independence of Ghana in 1957. They have only had a series of changes in their name and leadership but their motive has remained constant which is to always derail Ghana on its progress paths.

Adu Boahen and the Kufuor click reigniting the NPP in 1992 was not because they had anything useful to offer, but it was because they were Akans who didn’t like the idea of Jerry Rawlings, the Ewe man taming almost all of them at the time. The new generation of the NPP which came about in 1992 was never for development but was purposely set up just to counter the dominance of Rawlings.

It is the reason for close to the 16 years they have spent in power, you cannot point to a single monumental project they have done that will serve generations to come. For them, it has always been about sloganeering and no practical solution. How then do you unfortunately, label the NPP and the NDC as the same after all the aforementioned evidence?

Also Read: Govt to sell Saglemi housing to private developer.

Source: Kevin Taylor | Host: ghananews.hrforum.uk