MY TAKE ON PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO'S ASEMPA
BUDGET
Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...
Ordinarily,
politicians in this part of our World tend to make grandiose promises only when
they are in opposition because they want to win votes and form government. And
when they get into government, they surreptitiously run away and stop talking
about those ambitious and mouth-watering promises, upon which premise, they got
the people's mandate. This is a claim that I'm sure, every follower of African politics and in particular, the politics of
Ghana, would agree with without any hesitation.
Our history
is replete with such examples. I am also sure you would agree with me that, His
Excellency President Nana Akufo-Addo is by far, the one and only President in
our Republic, who has amply proven that he is committed to departing from this
norm. He has significantly demonstrated, both in words and in deeds, that, the
Ghanaian politician is capable of walking his talk. He has shown that the
Ghanaian politician can also be trusted. And if you were thinking of giving up
on our politicians, President Nana Addo has given you a million dollar reasons
to revise your notes. He has thus given you enough reasons to have absolute
confidence in the Ghanaian politician.
Many were
the cynics that said candidate Nana Akufo-Addo was deceiving Ghanaians in the
runup to the 2016 polls with his ‘overly ambitious and grandiose’ promises.
Many were the cynics that said the NPP's promises looked too good to be good
and that, they were utopian and unrealistic. Many were the cynics that
pooh-poohed the NPP's flagship promises and proposed interventions for the
Ghanaian people.
They
ridiculed candidate Nana Addo and his promises, describing same as 419. They
turned everything into comic relief. You remember “one this, one that joke” by
President Mahama at the time? Well, the Lord, in whom, the NPP entrusted their
battle, spoke in the affirmative through the Ghanaian electorates, culminating
in the party’s resounding victory at the polls.
And what is the narrative of today regarding the promises we
were told President Nana Addo could not implement? Almost all the flagship
promises are being implemented today. You remember they said NPP could not
implement 1-district-1-factory, but we are seeing the implementation of this
ambitious promise today. You remember they said NPP could not implement
1-village-1-dam, but we are seeing the implementation of that today. You
remember they said NPP could not implement 1-constituency-$1m initiative, but
we are seeing that today.
You remember they said NPP could not establish 3 development
authorities to oversee the implementation of the aforementioned promises, but
we are seeing that happen today. You remember they said free SHS was not
possible in Ghana and that, if it was possible, a certain Kwame Nkrumah would
have done it, but we are seeing President Nana Addo and the NPP implement free
SHS today. You remember they said NPP could not establish the Zongo Development
Fund, but we are seeing that happen today with a seed capital of GHc219 million.
You remember they said NPP could not restore teacher and nursing trainee
allowance, but that has been done today.
You remember they said NPP could not scrap the energy sector
levies, but we are seeing the scrapping of a lot of these levies today. You
remember they said NPP could not abolish
all the nuisance taxes including
import duties on spare parts, ‘kayaye tax’, 17.5% VAT on Financial Services, 17.5%
VAT for traders, special petroleum taxes, 17.5% VAT on medicines that are not
produced locally, 17.5% VAT on domestic airlines, but all of these taxes have been scrapped
today.
In fact, I am yet to see any single flagship promise these
unrepentant cynics said NPP could not implement that has not been implemented
today. And if you consider the fact that this is only the first budget of the NPP government, then you would be convinced
that we are getting to the promise land soonest. You would also think that by
the time President Nana Addo finishes his 8 years Insha Allah, then Ghana would
be like paradise.
If after one budget, kayayes are jubilating, spare parts
dealers are jubilating, industry players are happy, traders are happy, students
are happy, the people of Zongo are happy, teacher trainees are happy, nursing
trainees are happy, bankers are happy, importers are happy, exporters are
happy, farmers are happy, rural folks are happy, urban folks are happy, the
youth are happy, even the doubting thomases are happy, then what else can you
expect of your government? This is what we call, true meaning of governance and that is exactly what President Nana
Addo is delivering to the Ghanaian people.
Gone were those days when only the Middle Class were
interested in national budgets but today, even the ordinary Ghanaian is perhaps
more interested in budget than the Middle Class. For instance, I overheard some
kayayes, spare parts dealers and ordinary traders asking when the next budget
would be read. Clearly every Ghanaian now relates to our national budget having
seen its direct significance in their lives. What else would make you happy, Hon.
Haruna Iddrisu and my friends in the NDC?
Maybe you are unhappy because this is something you could not
do when you had the opportunity. But must we always reduce our politics to one
of ‘We vrs Them’? We are all living witnesses to the kind of grotesque governance
that characterized the NDC administration in the past 8 years. Taxation and
reckless borrowing were the only means of generating revenue for the
government, something everybody could do because that is the laziest approach
to governance. In fact, the NDC government taxed everything Ghanaian as if
tomorrow never existed.
They made Ghana the most expensive destination to do business
in Africa. They collapsed existing businesses that could not cope with the
draconian and overly taxed business climate in the country. In fact, they taxed
everything including condoms and cutlasses. Perhaps, the only thing they did
not tax is the air we breathe. After visiting such abject cruelty on the
Ghanaian, today, this same NDC is chastising the NPP government for abolishing all the killer taxes that they introduced in order to give Ghanaians
some breathing space and make Ghana the most business friendly country in
Africa. How incredulous could that be!
Well, we all know that the NPP, per its capitalist orientation
and philosophy, has always been a business friendly political organization. The
NPP believes that, instead of central government doing everything, private
individuals should rather be empowered to engage actively in economic
activities so that they own properties [that is why the NPP is associated with property owning democracy], improve
their livelihoods and then in turn, pay taxes to the State.
That is why anytime NPP is in government, you see a lot of
economic activities in the country; you see businesses booming which
ultimately, results in the creation of several employment opportunities for all.
The NPP believes that the primary role of government is NOT to do business but
to create the necessary conducive environment for private businesses to thrive
and not to be seen taxing businesses recklessly and suffocating them in the
process, as the socialists profess.
I know you know that the NDC is a centre-left or socialist
political organization and this explains some of their actions, which often prove,
problematic. But they must realize
that socialism is an antiquated philosophy which has no relevance in today’s World. Capitalism, with a little social touch,
which is the NPP way, is surely the best
governance model for Ghana and indeed all jurisdictions. The NPP is the
right party to take Ghana to the promise land. The perspectives of an ardent
follower of centre-right political ideology and a citizen of Ghana NOT a spectator.
Assalamu alaikum
Iddi Muhayu-Deen
#ForGodAndCountry
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