The Founder and Leader of the Progressive People�s Party (PPP), Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, has ridiculed claims by Prof. John Evans Atta Mills that his government�s achievements in the last three years is unprecedented in the history of the country.
Dr. Nduom says he is very much surprised that President Mills, in spite of all the troubles and tribulations Ghanaians are going through, could have the courage to tell the world that his government has made unprecedented gains.
�Unprecedented what in Ghana? It is not a small word to be used by a politician. We must get serious sometimes,� the PPP leader observed.
President Mills was reported in yesterday�s edition of the Daily Graphic as having described his government�s achievements as exceptional, citing significant micro economic stability, massive infrastructure, and reduction in poverty as evidence of his administration�s excellent performance, which has never been replicated in the nation�s contemporary history.
However, the former flagbearer of the Convention People� Party and now founder of the PPP told a radio station in Kumasi yesterday that President Mills must stop making himself a subject of public ridicule by refraining from such unsubstantiated claims.
He said he would have agreed with Prof. Mills if he had made the assertion in a negative way like what is being witnessed currently under his administration.
�If President Mills talks about the Woyome scandal, I would agree with him that it is unprecedented, because never in the history of this country has the state dished out such a huge sum of money to an individual as a judgment debt, otherwise, I don�t see any positive and unprecedented achievement,� Dr. Nduom emphasised.
According to the PPP leader, the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), under President Mills, has not done anything significant since assuming power, let alone, doing anything that could be described as unprecedented.
�Unprecedented in what way; go to Elmina, my hometown, and see if something is going on there� absolutely nothing, So if you say unprecedented, then what are you talking about?� Dr. Nduom questioned.
Speaking to Omanhene Yaw Adu Boakye on the KESSBEN 93.3FM Breakfast show, Dr. Nduom, who is on a campaign tour in the Ashanti Region, further retorted: �When we say something is unprecedented, then it means that thing has never happened before or cannot be imitated, so I want President Mills to tell me what it is that he has done that has not happened in the country before.�
The founder of the PPP said that when politicians, more especially, the President of the State, make such statements, knowing very well that there is no evidence to buttress it, it only goes a long way to confirm the perception that politicians are unfaithful and dishonest.
�You see, when people start talking like that, some of us get worried, because it fuels speculation that politicians only say things to cajole people, otherwise, how can you say that you have made unprecedented achievements, when it is not so,� he stated.
Dr. Nduom lashed out at the government for mismanaging state funds, citing, for instance, the allocation of GH�700 million to be paid in 2012 as judgment debts.
�When someone says he would ensure free SHS education in Ghana using about GH�150 million a year, the NDC says it is not feasible, but such a huge amount as GH�700 million is being allocated for judgment debt,� Dr. Nduom asserted, stating that when the PPP assumes power, it would not only ensure free senior high school (SHS), but would also make education compulsory from the Kindergarten to the SHS level.
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