A former mayor of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly in the John Kufuor-led New Patriotic Party government, Mr. Mohammed Amin Anta, has predicted that President John Dramani Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress could have a smooth sailing in the 2016 elections if current trend of development being pursued by government is sustained.
Mr. Mohammed Amin Anta, who is also the Executive Director of Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), said the recent IMANI Ghana’s assessment which scored the John Mahama-led NDC administration 47 % is a threat to the chances of opposition parties, particularly the NPP’s chances of recapturing power in 2016.
According to the respected politician-turned-technocrat, if the Mahama administration is able to fulfill at least 70 percent of the NDC campaign promises, the government was likely to secure a second term mandate.
The former NPP stalwart noted that no party in the world can achieve a 100 % score and that if the NDC is able to achieve at least 70% of its promises before elections, next year, it will slim the chances of opposition parties scheming to supplant the ruling government.
Commenting on IMANI-Ghana’s report on the performance of the NDC government so far, Mr. Amin Anta admonished, “Even at 47% assuming NDC doesn’t make any further achievement President Mahama could still be a truly competitive candidate in the next election, so for me the other parties should sit up if they really want to have a competitive election.”
The John Mahama administration scored 47% for its overall performance over the past two and a half years, according to an IMANI-Ghana assessment report.
According to the policy think tank, the score is a “satisfactory” performance but there is more room for improvement before the government’s four-year term ends. IMANI Ghana came to the 47% conclusion after assessing the 2012 manifesto of the ruling NDC as against the actual work on the ground.
IMANI Ghana evaluated the rate of execution of the programs and projects stated in the manifesto and identified the gaps that need to be bridged over the next year and a half before the 2016 election.
However, whiles government in a statement welcomed the IMANI assessment report on its performance; it nevertheless believes the approach and methodology used were “flawed.”
In a statement which signed by a deputy minister of communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu government said: “It is obvious from the presentation that there was inadequate engagement between IMANI and Government agencies such as to allow for them to access all the information and data required to do a comprehensive and thorough assessment of progress on our manifesto commitments.”
However Amin Anta said, the 47% in two and half years is pretty good and if the NDC is able to move up to 70% (which is possible) by the end of next year then the other political parties will be in danger
He said micro economic issues and the energy crisis may not provide the foundation for the other parties to compete effectively because infrastructure is ongoing in rural areas and social services such as education is going on in the rural areas and more of the voter population is in the rural communities
“If the energy sector is addressed somehow you will see the NDC becoming very strong in the next election and so for the NPP in particular I think that this should be a clarion call on them to put their infighting behind them and to unite to make the next election very competitive otherwise it will be a dream for them” he said.
He said he is optimistic that the energy crisis will end at the end of the year adding that “they (NDC) have outlined an energy program to end the crisis and if they religiously implement it the energy problem will be solved”.
<<Print>>