Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a former aide to ex-President John Dramani Mahama, has outlined reasons why he believes his former boss should be elected in the 2024 general elections.
He asserts that Mr. Mahama’s track record surpasses what the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) government can present in the upcoming elections.
The 2024 elections are primarily shaping up as a contest between Mr. Mahama and the NPP’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
In an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi TV’s Face to Face, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese Constituency criticised the current government for economic mismanagement.
“I think that we know his [Mahama] record and that record is much better than anything the NPP has to offer without question. But you look at the time that we are in, you look at the instability of the economy. You look at the suffering, the pain, the anguish that people are going through, the deliberate mismanagement, wanton waste of national resources.
“You look at the arrogance of power, the complete disregard for the sensibilities of the people, corruption, how the education has been run down, how the health sector is struggling.”
He also drew attention to the current administration’s struggles with the educational sector.
“For about 4 terms, this government has been unable to buy textbooks for basic school pupils. We have a situation where the capitation grant has been in arrears for 6 terms. These are problems that didn’t exist under former President Mahama’s term,” he claimed.
On the topic of the government’s free SHS policy, Kwakye Ofosu suggested that students would overwhelmingly vote against the government given the choice.
“I can assure you if those SHS students were allowed to make a choice of their own volition, they would vote massively against this government. Education goes beyond merely paying the fees, so when you pay the fees, many other things should come together to give that child a certain minimum quality of education, that is non-existent.
“If you pay fees and can’t supply textbooks, if you pay fees and the food they eat with the greatest respect even animals somewhere will not eat as food fit for them to eat. You pay fees and there are bed bug infestations in schools and the government cannot deal with it.
“You pay fees and they don’t have basic equipment. What is the use of paying fees if important components in the education ecosystem are not in place to guarantee the Ghanaian school children a certain minimum quality education.”
When asked if the NDC is intimidated by the NPP flagbearer’s ambitious vision, he responded, “My candidate [Mahama] has spoken about a number of positions -24-hour economy, he has stated strategies to address the huge unemployment problem, he has spoken about the stabilisation the economy, spoken about abolishing ex-gratia.
“What former President Mahama will not do is to engage in meaningless slogans like his opponent [Bawumia] wants to do. Bawumia’s candidacy was never going to be tenable because of the abysmal performance he has put out.”
He argued that Dr Bawumia cannot distance himself from the economic mismanagement as he holds a key position in the government, and therefore, he should be voted out in the 2024 elections.
“He has taken credit for supposed economic gains. Even the idea that he now seeks to run away from responsibilities is one of the reasons why he must be thrown out in the 2024 elections, the last thing Ghanaians need is a leader who doesn’t take responsibilities,” he said.