Roads do not translate into victory –Mahama in 2008

By Maxwell Ofori [email protected].. President John Dramani Mahama has become the subject of discussion amongst many Ghanaians for campaigning on issues he condemned in 2008 when he was the vice presidential candidate to the late President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. President John Mahama is on record to have said in 2008 that any government’s […]

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By Maxwell Ofori
[email protected]..
President John Dramani Mahama has become the subject of discussion amongst many Ghanaians for campaigning on issues he condemned in 2008 when he was the vice presidential candidate to the late President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills.
President John Mahama is on record to have said in 2008 that any government’s achievements should not be based on the numerous infrastructure it may have done.
He said, in the audio circulating, that government is supposed to provide infrastructure, and that it would not be enough to use only infrastructural developments to judge whether the government had performed tremendously.
The President, and by extension the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is currently campaigning on infrastructural achievements, especially, provision of roads.
Ostensibly, the President, in 2008, as captured on the audio recording, said election was more than infrastructure development, citing that it is about the wishes and aspirations of the people of this country.
According to him, every government is supposed to provide infrastructure, and any government that succeeds the sitting government would add up to the infrastructure, commending President Kufuor for heavily investing in infrastructure.
The audio, circulating on social media platforms, quoted the President as saying: “…I think that it is petty, and is stuck in the kind of past mentality that we’ve had… that a government’s achievements are based on the infrastructure that it provides.
“Yes, government is supposed to provide infrastructure, but every government adds unto the infrastructure. And any government that succeeds Kufuor will add on to the wonderful infrastructure that he’s put in place.
“A person would be an ostrich to say that President Kufuor has not achieved anything. He has achieved significantly in infrastructure. But what I say is if President Rawlings did not build the road from Makola to Tetteh Quarshie, President Kufuor would not have been able to build the road from Tetteh Quarshie to Mamfe. He would have had to go and start from Makola.
“And so I think that the challenges that face this country are new, and we must not get stuck in the past and talk about comparing. You know records, and that this election is about comparing records. I think it’s about more than that. It’s about what the wishes and aspirations of the people of this country are, you know, going forward,” the then vice-presidential candidate John Mahama remarked.
However, the 2016 Manifesto of the NDC, which was officially launched by President John Mahama in Sunyani, was categorised into four thematic areas, with infrastructure development as one, under the NDC government, and what Ghanaians should expect in the next term of the NDC, as far as infrastructure development is concerned.
The 80-page document said that it was evident on face value that the NDC government’s massive infrastructure expansion has impacted on the quality of life of Ghanaians, and the country at large.
“The results of our massive infrastructure expansion programme can be seen across the country, and its impact on the quality of life of our people is obvious.
“Notwithstanding the significant gains made, the NDC is poised to accelerate the provision of infrastructure to deepen the social and economic benefits of our transformation programme. In the next four years, the NDC government will adopt new developments in science and technology, to provide impetus for accelerated infrastructure development,” the document stated.
The 2016 NDC manifesto, as launched by President John Mahama, listed some roads it had constructed, against the backdrop that the NDC government had, perhaps, done more than any other government in providing infrastructure.
The message in the audio recording of the then vice presidential candidate of the NDC contradicts their own 2016 NDC manifesto, which highlights infrastructural development.

Front page lead
NPP TO
WIN POLLS
… Legon research say Nana will be next President of Ghana
By Pascal KafuAbotsi
The results of this year’s elections will see President John Dramani Mahama bid a touching goodbye to Flagstaff House, research conducted by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, has established.
Led by Dr. Isaac Owusu-Mensah, a Lecturer at the department, the survey, which was carried out in the swing regions of Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo, Central and Western, placed the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ahead of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer.
In the 2012 elections, the NDC won convincingly, all four regions. However, Dr. Owusu-Mensah told the press in Accra yesterday, that this year, in the Greater Accra Region, the NPP is tipped to lead with 55.2% as against President Mahama’s 32.8%, while 57.2% for Nana Addo and 33.4% for President Mahama is the case in the Central Region.
The survey also showed that President John Mahama will lead with 55.8% in the Northern Region, while Nana Addo will shoot up his 2012 performance to 38.8%.
The Western Region will also witness 52.2% for the NPP, and a paltry 27.5% for the NDC, whereas in the Brong Ahafo Region, the NPP and NDC will secure 44.5% and 44.0% respectively.
The 2,400 respondents, who participated in the process, were drawn mainly from 24 constituencies marked as the strongholds of the ruling NDC.
In the Greater Accra Region, for example, Krowor, Ledzokuku, Korle Klottey and Madina were considered.
Techiman North, Nkoranza North, Nkoranza South and Wenchi were the chosen constituencies in the Brong Ahafo Region, while the focus was on Shama, Jomoro, Amenfi East and Sefwi Bekwai in the Western Region.
In the Central Region, Efutu, Awutu Senya West, Gomoa East, Cape Coast North, Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira, Asikuma-Odobeng-Brakwa and Agona West were the areas under consideration.
With support from Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the team focused on the four regions, because they are on record to have alternated power between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2000 and 2008 elections.
The zeal to find out if that logic was anything to go by, informed the decision of the researchers to find out people’s voting patterns this year, as well as the issues and perspectives that would influence their choices.
It was confirmed that while the campaign messages of the NPP resonated well with the respondents in the chosen areas – for example ‘One District, One Factory’; ‘One Constituency, One Million Dollars’ and ‘One Village, One Dam’ among others, the opposite was the case for the NDC.
The DKM Micro Finance issue, Dr. Owusu-Mensah pointed out, will be the main factor the people of the Brong Ahafo Region would consider in casting their votes.
He recalled the people telling the research team that Mrs. Lordina Mahama, First Lady of the country, had some relationship with the liquidated company, which meant that she had knowledge of the treatment meted out to them.
For this reason, they would vote against the NDC. What even made the matter worse, the Lecturer said, was that they continued to see her image with that of the President.
Other issues which would inform the people’s decision-making would be the honesty of the candidate.
Here, 29% expressed this concern, whereas 27% and 1% will look out for somebody who cares and solves problems for people, and a President with crisis management skills, respectively.
“51% responded in the affirmative that Dum-so is an issue in the election, 43% answered that it is not an issue, while 5.2% did not know if it is an issue in the elections,” Dr. Owusu-Mensah indicated.
35.5% of the respondents would base their decision on the economy and provision of jobs; 25.9% on education; 15.5% on the issue of health care, and 6.5% on the perception of corruption.
Electricity supply will constitute 1.7%; transport services, 3.8%, and social security 1.8%.
0.8% will also take the imposition of taxes into account.
The study concludes that the “NPP has a better chance of winning the December elections than NDC, because NDC must win the Greater Accra, Central and with Brong-Ahafo or Western regions, which is possible, but with minimal probability.
“NPP strength in Northern Volta has been bolstered with changing new dynamics in the region. The NPP has also gained some hold in some constituencies in the Upper West Region, such as Wa East and Lambussie-Karni,” it added.
Again, “NPP has managed to diffuse the weight of the NDC in Asawase and New Edubiase, which will reduce the regional tally of the NDC in Ashanti, therefore, the 30% projection is questionable,” the paper stated.
And if the NPP is able to mobilise the core supporters to cast their votes, the research emphasised, the party has chances of winning in the first round, “but if NDC and PPP are capable of making some gains nationally, this will force the elections into the second round, but NPP will still be in the lead in [the] first round.”

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