Let’s have one-on-one debate - President challenges Akufo-Addo
President John Dramani Mahama has thrown a challenge to the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to have a one-on-one debate with him before the December 7 general election.
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Speaking on Volta Star Radio’s Morning Show in Ho yesterday, the President said Ghanaians deserved a debate between him and Nana Akufo-Addo and expressed the hope that the NPP would respond to the challenge and rise to the occasion.
That debate, he said, would correct all misinformation in the public domain and enable voters to know their candidates better to make a sound judgement as to who they would want to lead them.
The one-hour interview with the host of the programme, Mr Kafui Kumagah, formed part of President Mahama’s five-day campaign tour of the region.
The President used the platform to outline some policies his government would adopt to solve the problem of unemployment.
He said the debate would serve as an important forum for him to expose some of the wicked lies of the NPP flag bearer and his running mate, Dr Mamamudu Bawumia, against the government.
“When I threw the first challenge; I threw it because a lot of misinformation was being thrown all over the place. Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate continue to misinform the Ghanaian populace. That is why I said let us have a one-on-one debate,” he said.
The debate, he said, would allow the two parties to present their various statistics for Ghanaians to judge “who is telling the truth and who is not telling the truth”.
Economy in crisis
The NPP, he said, had continued to trumpet that the economy was in crisis and, therefore, with such debate they would have to show why the economy was in crisis because “the documents are all there and the statistics are there.”
President Mahama said the NDC‘s manifesto had clearly stated that the next four years of the government would see a revival of all old factories through private partnership to create jobs.
The government, he added, would facilitate the growth of the private sector so it could absorb fresh graduates.
Additionally, he said, the government would also launch the Economic Transformation and Livelihood Empowerment Programme to promote job creation and entrepreneurship.
President Mahama said the government would invest about GH¢100 million into the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) Fund over the next four years to be disbursed to young entrepreneurs.
Development
The Volta Region, he said, had seen many development projects, including the first phase of the Ho Airport, construction of the Eastern Corridor road, a fair share of the E-blocks, clinics and hospitals.
He, therefore, advised the people to ignore “NPP’s lies” that nothing was happening in the region and rather vote to retain the government in power.