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Kufuor Replies NDC
Accra, December 14, 2010
I have read with amusement your Press Statement on
aspects of what former President JA Kufuor said during
his 72nd birthday last week.
You seem to take issue with his assertion that the NPP
government, which he led, has been the best in Ghana so
far.
I submit humbly that former President Kufuor was
assessing the performance of his government over its
eight-year tenure.
I recall that not too long ago President JEA Mills in
assessing his performance gave himself the high mark of
80%.
At the time the NPP came to office in 2001, Ghana’s
international ranking had sunk so low it was classified
as a ‘Heavily Indebted and Poor Country” (HIPC);
national reserves stood at only $233 million; GDP which
was $4 billion, grew at a lowly 3.7% per year; there was
no National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS); no School
Feeding Programme; no free school busing for pupils and
the aged; no free school fees for pupils from
Kindergarten to Junior High School level; inflation
stood at a high of 40.5% and interest rate was hitting
the 50% mark, just to mention a few.
By the time NPP was leaving office in 2008 Ghana had
graduated from International Monetary Fund (IMF)
oversight-ship to borrow from the EURO-Bond market where
its share-value of $750 million was over-subscribed by
more than three times; national reserves had risen to
$2,036million; GDP shot up to over $44 billion and was
growing at 8.4%; the NHIS was running smoothly and
efficiently; a pilot scheme to give at least one hot
meal a day to school children fro mfour years to 14
years was progressing well and on course; Inflation
stood at 18% and interest rate had dropped to 23
percent.
Indeed with the rebasing of the GDP growth rate for 2008
from 7.3% to 8.4%, it is now clearly established that
Ghana has attained the Middle Income status. The NDC had
envisioned that this would be possible by 2020. The NPP
believed this could be achieved by 2015 and succeeded in
achieving it by 2008.
I fail to see the logic when you state: “within the
first four years of the NPP administration … they could
for instance complete any of the roads for which the
preceding NDC-led government had already secured funding
and parliamentary approval.”
At least you are not claiming that the NPP did not
complete the roads at all but only that they could not
complete them within their first term! The logic turns
on its head and we leave to Ghanaians to judge.
We maintain that former President Kufuor ordered and
secured a hire purchase agreement for one aircraft.
There was only a tentative agreement to buy a second one
in future, resources permitting. No commitment was made.
The idea was to enable Ghana, should government decide
to go ahead with the purchase, to beat the long waiting
period of about three years from order of an aircraft to
when delivery was made.
It is disappointing that after the 19 years rule of
former President JJ Rawlings, you mention only one
report by the Institute of Statistical, Social and
Economic Research (ISSER) commending him. We could cite
numerous documents attesting to successes chalked by
former President Kufuor.
Former President Kufuor has the highest respect for the
late President Kwame Nkrumah and he has not sought in
any way to denigrate him. He acknowledges the enormous
work he did for Ghana and Africa which has led to his
being voted the ‘Best African Personality of the 20th
Century.’
As regards your reference to the so-called ‘top 50
achievements’ of the NDC, the least said about it the
better. The document is flawed in many places and is a
clear exercise in desperation of a government seeking to
be acknowledged, willy-nilly. Apart from its many
contradictions it sets very low standards for Ghana as
even projects that have just been ‘put on paper’ or are
going for tender are cited as achievements. If this is
what the NDC wants to be credited with, so be it.
Again you refer to the now worn out Gizelle Yartze
issue. Obviously it serves the NDC’s purpose to continue
to follow a discredited lady who at every turn has
embarrassed them by her penchant to twist words around
and her inability to match her words with deeds.
We again reiterate that all former President Kufuor
sought to do was to encourage his party to defend and
trump up the achievements of the government that he led
which are plentiful, indeed, to assure the people of
Ghana, that it was ready to resume government for the
betterment of the nation come 2012 .
Signed:
Frank Agyekum
Spokesperson
Office of former President JA Kufuor
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