The flagbearers of four presidential candidates with
representation in parliament slugged it out at the first IEA
Presidential Debate held this evening in Tamale.
Presidential John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic
Congress; Dr. Abu Sakara Foster of the Convention People’s Party;
Hassan Ayariga of the People’s National Convention and Nana
Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party presented their policy
direction on a number of sectors of political interest.
The debate, moderated by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Prof. Jane Opoku
Agyemang, started off with all the presidential candidates
presenting their broad national agenda for the nation before moving
into the specific areas of the political management.
They answered questions on the job creation, agricultural sector,
education, healthcare, private sector development, energy sector,
taxation, retail trading and the all-important issue about
education.
The very first contentious point was on the National Development
Plan. The president stood by the government’s position to continue
projects undertaken by past governments, saying that the
development plan does not need to be enshrined in the constitution
because it is already a constitutional requirement. He said the
Commission is currently undertaking consensus building on the most
important projects that are vital and sustainable to develop the
nation.
On his part, Nana Akufo-Addo said he is going to make his
runningmate, Dr, Mahamadu Bawumia, the head of the National
Development Planning Commission to ensure that the needed political
drive and impetus are given to the nation. But the president
disagreed saying, a Vice President heading the NDPC will only
further polarize the already deep political suspicion.
President Mahama said “Indeed I think that there is confusion in
the mind of the NPP presidential candidate in the answer he gave.
That is exactly the concern we have in this country that when a
political party leaves government the plans and visions that are
instituted are thrown away. And so if we assume that every four
year cycle a government potentially could lose elections, it means
every four years we will have a new national development planning
framework. And that is why the CRC flagged that issue.”
Dr. Sakara Foster however wanted the NDP to be enshrined in the
constitution in order to prevent the situation where new
governments discontinue projects of their counterparts. Mr. Ayariga
indicated that if Ghana will work again, there is a need for
develop a holistic plan to develop the nation.
The flagbearer of the NPP continued to stress on the need to make
Senior High School education free. He said the best way to offer
the youth of the country a bright future is through education. Nana
Addo said there is a need to ensure that parents across the country
are helped by the state to take care of the country. He said “I am
passionate about education.”
Nana Addo said Ghanaians cannot wait for another four years to
benefit from free education. Dr. Sakara was in good company with
his NPP counterpart. According to him, the CPP intends to make
basic education through to the SHS level fee-free. He indicated
that the party will implement the reading, writing and arithmetic
policy to ensure that before a student comes out from school, they
are equipped with the basic skills to fit into the job
market.
But President Mahama disagreed. He said the NDC believes that even
though the constitution enjoins all governments to make education
progressively free, it does not lie in the whimsical promise of a
party eager to win political power to make such pronouncements that
cannot be achieved in the short term.
He said even though he is for free education, the foundation of
education is weak and the NDC government will continue to
strengthen the base of education and make basic education free and
compulsory by providing schools in every location.
He said the NDC will improve access and the quality of teaching
before offering free education. Mr. Hassan Ayariga on his part said
the country does not have the wherewithal to pay for free
education. He therefore promised that a PNC government will expand
access and grow the economy.
One area that the candidates of the two main political parties
spent some time on was the National Health Insurance Scheme. While
Nana Addo was convinced that the scheme was collapsing, the
president said the number of people who access healthcare under the
scheme has tripled since the government took over.
The president urged Nana Addo to desist from making inaccurate
comments on the scheme but to his defense, the NPP flagbearer said
the figure available to the president are rather incorrect.
In his concluding remarks, Nana Addo said the NDC is trying to sell
fantasy to the people as reality through a number of broken
promises. He therefore urged Ghanaians to throw out the NDC and
bring back the NPP.
He said Ghana’s future is bright, adding “as president of this
country, I’ll harness all the human resource available to move this
country forward.”
