Okay guys now that we have been hard hit by this pandemic and we are all locked down in houses, can we settle the all time debate on social interventions in Ghana? (my throat is really itching…)
The NPP claims even though they are a capitalist party, when it comes to social interventions they have done way better than the NDC which is a socialist party, they have held onto this illusion for a quite a while with the help of some elements in the Media(like Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako)
The NPP have based this assertion primarily on the fact that they birthed the NHIS, School Feeding Program, Capitation Grants, LEAP, Free SHS etc.
Some communicators of the NPP have in some instances been so over-confident that they have asked their NDC co-panelists on live programs to mention a single social intervention the NDC have initiated or implemented.
Now that’s a very interesting debate which has gone on and on with no end in sight…
But guess what, none of us anticipated that the day of reckoning would be here this soon, that a pandemic will strike and put our social support programs as a Country to a real test.
Today the Country has mounted all its socio-economic resources available to battle a deadly pandemic that has infected over 400 people and killed 8 of them…. and guess which social interventions have come to the fore at this vulnerable hour….!
About 6 ultramorden facilities in the capital alone at the fore of the treatment of COVID-19 patients, some built between 2009-2016, others upgraded with ultramorden medical equipments during the same period.
Several other medical facilities built within the same period scattered across the Country and several others similarly upgraded to World class status.
A heritage fund and a stabilization fund all birthed and nursed by the previous government have become the principal source of funds to finance Government’s efforts to fight the pandemic.
Unprecedented expansion of access to clean water from about 56% National Coverage to about 78%.
Expansion of electricity from about 52% coverage to about 86% National Coverage through the Rural Electrification Program.
(These excludes the expansions done between 1993-2001)
Just imagine the level of spread of this pandemic without access to clean water for simple handwashing…
I can go on and on.. but this is where I pause and ask, where is Capitation grant? Where is the infamous Free SHS program and where does all these over hyped interventions fall within our National quest for survival at this critical moment?
Atleast now we can agree for sure that; it’s not the creation of a flamboyant program, with a bureaucratic setup and garnishing it with a sloganeered title and celebrity ambassador is what qualifies a program as a social intervention but rather real interventions are ordinary and basic but they bring enormous relief and improvement into the lives of the ordinary people.
And at this point, there’s no further doubt about who among the two main Political Parties have made the most significant social interventions in the history of this Country.
The Coronavirus pandemic has been very devastating for us all but one thing that we would always remember this pandemic for would be how it has effortlessly settled this long standing debate on Social Interventions in Ghana.
Source: Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA