CONCERNED PATRIOTIC COMMUNICATORS RESPONSE TO BASELESS ALLEGATIONS RAISED BY THE NDC IN THE NORTH EAST REGION.
We, the Concerned Patriotic Communicators of North East Region (CPC-NER) have learnt with utmost shock, disbelief and utter disgust the disingenuous attempt of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party to throw dust into the eyes of the good people of the North East region by churning absolute lies against the government of His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. These malicious untruths, cooked in the kitchen of propaganda and served on the plate of deceit are intended to set the people on collision course with the New Patriotic Party, and specifically, with His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President, by playing on our gullibility with chicanery; which they are masters of.
A week ago, in the heat of the opening of nomination for their parliamentary primaries, the North East Regional Communication Officer of the NDC hurriedly organized a press conference to lie through his teeth by levelling baseless allegations against the government, and by doing so, targeting the Vice President. The silence so far from people in the region concerning their useless press conference speaks volumes about their integrity and the storm that awaits to drown them in 2020. However, we are of the firm belief that if the lies they raised are not addressed with this release, it has the potential of actually achieving the outcomes they desired. Thus, we will like to address the key issues raised in their press conference as follows:
ALLEGATION 1: THE PLIGHT OF THE ALMOST 61% OF WATERMELON FARMERS IN THE NORTH EAST
The NDC in their deceitful press conference shed crocodile tears about the plight of watermelon farmers in the North East region as though the farming of watermelon started under this government. Admittedly, the situation of some of the farmers is worrying and pathetic. That is not enough for the NDC to conclude that the government does not care about the watermelon farmers. The facts remain that there has been an unprecedented glut of the fruit (some say it’s a vegetable) due to the sound implementation of the NPP government’s Planting for Food and Jobs policy. The policy has ensured that agricultural inputs are provided in good time and at a very affordable cost to farmers. Again, and as admitted by the NDC in their press conference, because of the sound economic management, and also because of the priority government has given to the agricultural sector, financial institutions now feel comfortable about assisting Ghanaian farmers with loans to expand their production. The concomitant result of these good initiatives is the expansion and growth of the agricultural sector which grew negatively under the immediate past government of the NDC.
The fact that the media now reports issues of concern in the North East region is itself an achievement of the government the NDC is strenuously trying to bastardize. In the past, worse things, more newsworthy and needful of attention have happened without any media coverage. Among some of the immediate benefits we are getting as a people for the creation of the new region by the NPP government is the opening up of the area to the outside world including the media.
Although sad, we are proud that the media is reporting about glut of watermelon in the new region and not the lack of fertilizer for farmers as the people in the region used to experience during the JM tenure.
The NPP promised to set up a watermelon factory in the area if voted for. That is not a promise this government or specifically the Vice President who hails from the area has forgotten. But unlike the NDC who think about the next elections and not the next generation, this government will not rush to build factories just to score political points like the millions of dollars they wasted in the Komenda sugar factory which they hurriedly commissioned and yet still unable to produce just a spoonful of sugar. Assuredly, a watermelon factory will be established in the region before the tenure of the first term of President Nana Addo expires. Instead of a Komenda-esque factory (a white elephant), this government will rather conduct all the feasibility studies and put all the necessary structures in place for the smooth operation of the factory before putting up the superstructure. The value chain has to be analysed and assessed properly before a sustainable factory is built.
Laughably, the NDC accused the NPP government of incompetence and nonchalance for not providing immediate solutions to the farmers who ventured into watermelon farming and run into loses for the lack of market for their watermelons. The million dollar question is, the NDC spent eight years in power before they were embarrassingly kicked out of office; what measures did they put in place to help these farmers in those eight years that they were in power? If in less than three years the NPP government has put in place practical measures and policies to increase the yield of farmers but is still described as incompetent and nonchalant, how will we describe the NDC that in eight years did nothing or initiating no policy in the agric sector of the economy? They actually oversaw the near collapse of the agricultural sub-sector with their over reliance in oil and gas. The NPP in opposition promised farmers that if voted into power it will implement Planting Food and Jobs and also establish factories to turn some of the produce into finished products; we didn’t just whine and pretended by crying more than the bereaved as they are currently doing. We gave policy alternatives as a credible opposition party not this talk shop, propaganda cooking and incompetent NDC who are bereft of any alternatives to the challenges that face us as a country.
ALLEGATION 2: SHUTDOWN OF WULUGU HEALTH CENTRE DUE TO LACK OF DRUGS.
The legendary incompetence of the NDC is once again displayed in full regalia on this allegation. With just a scintilla of truth, which is that the Wulugu Health Centre is inundated with problems due to the increasing population, the NDC has gone on a tangent that only seeks to brew a storm in a teacup. The Health Centre is operational as we speak and the challenge of lack of drugs alone in the facility is not enough reason why any health facility should be shutdown. People visit health facilities not just for drugs. Health facilities do more than just prescribe and issue drugs to patience. Beside diagnosis, health facilities equally do counselling and testing. The NDC claim that since June 2017 the Wulugu Health Center started facing staff and drug shortages without telling us if the staff that were there before were transferred or sacked. The facts, incontrovertible and sacrosanct, still remains that in two years of being in power, this government has employed more health workers including nurses than the NDC did in eight years. We also have facts about new nurses that have been posted to the Wulugu HealthCenter since 2017. So we ask, if by increasing the staff strength of the Wulugu Health Centre under this NPP administration it still has staff challenges, how will we describe the challenges it had pre-2017 under the incompetent one’s regime? Execrable?
Today, appendages of a party whose government could not provide schools with chalk are shouting on top of their voices about lack of drugs in health facilities; hypocrisy isn’t it? It is still fresh in our minds that patience including pregnant women were made to buy everything that should have been served by health facilities including hand gloves and drips before they were attended to under the NDC. That has since been a thing of the past and instead of the NDC giving the NPP government credit, here they are lying and trying to achieve the opposite. If the NDC were actually speaking the truth, they would have given a list of the drugs that are in short supply in the health facilities they gave.
Obviously, if you go to Wulugu Health Center for drugs that are used in chemotherapy it will be near to impossibility to find them there. We therefore challenge the NDC to come out with the list of the drugs that are not in supply and have resulted in the closure of Wulugu Health Center and the others that they listed.
Isn’t it interesting that these latter day saints were quiet when the worse shortage of drugs hit this country under JM? The memory of the Ghana Medical Stores that was burnt to ashes with drugs worth over 200 million dollars, just to cover their loot and tracks is still fresh in our minds. If indeed drugs shortage has hit some health facilities, we cannot absolve the NDC of blame for their role in burning the Ghana Medical Stores. Below is a list of health facilities including regional hospitals that were hit with shortages of drugs and other essentials in 2014 and 2015. To prove the credibility of our sources, we have attached the links to the stories.
1. Accra Psychiatric Hospital: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/health/drug-shortage-hits-accra-psychiatric-hospital.html
2. Eye Treatment Drugs: http://allghanaweb.com/2014/06/03/shortage-of-eye-treatment-drugs-in-ghana/
3. Tamale Teaching Hospital: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Shortage-of-essential-drugs-hit-Tamale-Hospital-348815
4. Gwollu Hospital: https://web.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1651378425118069&id=1431129197142994&comment_id=1716292448626666&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D&_rdc=1&_rdr.
Finally, we are aware of the grand scheme of the NDC party against His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia which per their plan will have to be implemented in his home region and home constituency to discredit him. We are equally aware of the huge sum of money they have collected to execute the plan. We the CPM-NER will not sit down and allow them to bring down His Excellency the Vice President and by extension the NPP government. We will continue to expose you and your treachery. We are aware that very soon our respectable and hardworking regional executives will address the media to equally deflate your lies and deception. This is just a curtain raiser, warning is hereby served to the NDC to desist from lying to score cheap political points.
SOURCE: CONCERNED PATRIOTIC COMMUNICATORS OF NORTH EAST REGION.
SIGNED
ABUBAKARI SHANI BAWUMIA
CONVENER 0242041706
SIMON SUAYAM
SPOKESPERSON 0241617554
SALIFU SEIDU GUY
SECRETARY 0249410109
