Nduom wages into Mahama debate brouhaha
The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, is questioning why President John Dramani Mahama will prefer debating Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) instead of him (Dr Nduom) and wonders whether the NPP flag bearer comes across as an easier match for the President.
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Dr Nduom has been calling for a debate with the President over the past year on how to offer alternative solutions to the myriad of problems confronting the Mahama administration, and for that matter, Ghanaians.
Although neither the President nor any of his aides has responded to the Nduom request, the President has challenged Akufo Addo to a debate on “several contentious issues” raised by the NPP flag bearer.
But in a statement, Dr Nduom pointed out that that approach in itself “is as contentious as the President’s reference to Akufo Addo critique of him as contentious”.
The President declared on TV3 “I am willing to debate Akufo-Addo any day...he has made a lot of contentious statements which I am willing to debate him on and I wish he was here that I could debate him today”.
Dr Nduom questioned the President’s pick and choose attitude on the issue, wondering whether he dared Akufo Addo because he (Akufo Addo) came across as an easy match for him (President); and further wondered whether by ignoring him (Dr Nduom), the President was aware that he was also ignoring the growing numbers of people that Dr Nduom appealed to.
The youth, Dr Nduom said, found his job creation and inclusiveness attractive and worth supporting.
In Dr Nduom’s view, he offered alternative solutions to the many disillusioned Ghanaians and that the people would appreciate a healthy debate with the President.
“A healthy debate on policies will help find solutions to the country's problems”, he stated.
Dr Nduom asked again, “Does President Mahama think he can ignore people that I appeal to?”
He insisted that as President of the country, President Mahama should make himself ready to debate him on detailed policies on corruption, job creation and that he believed he could withstand him in a debate.
Dr Nduom has been consistent with his solution-driven alternatives to the Mahama administration and he has been insisting that the country’s energy crisis for instance cannot be fixed within a year or two.
He has since 2008 insisted that the only way to ensure development at the local level is to elect metropolitan and municipal district chief executives (MMDCEs) to ensure that they are accountable to the people who voted them into power and are, therefore obliged to heed their wishes or get the sack after four years.
“If Ghanaians are smart enough to elect a President and a Member of Parliament, why can’t they be equally smart to elect their MMDCEs?” Dr Nduom has been asking for the past eight years.
He also has been at the forefront of the corruption crusade in which he expressed the belief that we can deal decisively with the canker if we separate the Attorney General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the A-Gs Department is replaced by an Independent Prosecutor who will not cover up corruption at higher places because he/she would not be expected to be politically biased.
He has often referred the President to the Chapter 6 of the country’s Constitution that defines what good governance should be: that is high quality, compulsory and continuous education at the basic level and how there should be no excuses for any president or administration to implement that chapter called Directive Principles of State Policy.