Election 2020: NDC Promises Free Water for every Home
The next administration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under the leadership of John Dramani Mahama will ensure free supply of water to every home in Ghana, the party has promised. This is one of the issues that is expected to be captured in the party’s manifesto for 2020 which is currently under preparation.
A former deputy Ghana Ambassador to China, Ambassador Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah gave the hint on Saturday when he addressed some party loyalists at a meeting in Haatso, a suburb of Accra.
Under the auspices of a ‘Rejuvenated NDC4 2020 Platform’ the agenda of the meeting was to map out strategies to support the 2020 campaign on and off Social media; revamp the spirit of the party members and plant in them the sense of belonging; support for the various constituencies to mobilize the grassroots for victory 2020, among others.
According to Ambassador Ankrah, the time has come for the NDC to give hope to the people because the President Akufo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has lost touch with the concerns of the people, and the NDC cannot afford to disappoint them. He is hopeful that the party’s manifesto for the 2020 elections would be one that would offer hope to every Ghanaian.
“I don’t see why in this 21st century we should be paying for basic things like tap water. What do we have for the people that is doable. Let us think of how to put the tax to good use. We are considering a policy like making water free for every home. Water is life, water is free,” he stated.
He said deep thinking is currently going into the idea to ensure that the final output is one that has the interest of the people in mind. He said unlike a policy like free SHS that is benefiting only a few people, the free water for every home policy will benefit everybody. “We all drink water, don’t’ we”? he asked rhetorically.
He said the NDC will not make fanciful campaign promises that it cannot fulfill when in power, and that every single promise that would be contained in the party’s manifesto would be clear and achievable.
“One of the reasons we lost the 2016 elections was that we had a leader who is and would forever be an honest person. John Mahama was too truthful and honest,” he stated.
He encouraged members of the NDC to stand by the party and its leader John Mahama who has said he is on a rescue mission to save Ghanaians from the hands of a failed Akufo-Addo/NPP government.
He also charged the party members to send the message across to identifiable groups such as Teachers, Drivers, Market women, business people who are feeling the impact of the uninspiring policies of the current government.
He said the NDC as a grassroots party believes in a door-to-door method of selling out its political campaign messages and that principle has not changed.
“We need to go out and bond with the people. We have a serious task ahead of us so let us stop talking to ourselves, let us talk to the people who are indecisive, a lot of them are out there,” he stated.
A failed parliamentary candidate aspirant of the NDC in the Dome Kwabenya constituency, Israel Nornyibey who spoke on the topic “revamping the spirit of our people and plant in them the sense of belonging” said about 68% of the people are not on social media and so there should be a strategy to move the messages beyond social media.
He spoke about the attitudes of some members of the party that according to him are becoming very dangerous for the party and must be checked early before it degenerates into other situations that might be beyond control.
“Some people speak as if the party ‘us and not them’. It is not good, it doesn’t make people feel they are attached to the party…again, some people sit in their homes and hate Akufo-Addo, but how does that translate into votes for the NDC?
“We are poised to win 2020 but we need action. This is not the time to withdraw, let us all get involved in strategizing and equipping our people. Research and resource people with information. Let’s use social media to call people to action but let’s also get onto the ground,” he stated.
A former Parliamentary Candidate of the NDC in the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Nurudeen Mohammed, lamented the fact that the NDC has never won elections in any tertiary institution in the country for a while now. He said that assertion should give an indication that “the NDC has not landed yet because there is a lot to do”.
He said though it is a fact that the NDC is a party for the ordinary people including carpenters, laborers, farmers, it is also time to capture more of the intellectual community.
“In 2016, instead of us to explain to Ghanaians why we needed the infrastructure – the roads, the hospitals, the schools, we were rather drawing caricature of Akufo-Addo. We spent more time making Akufo-Addo popular. The NDC must rise up now and do the right thing,” he charged the gathering.
He said the 2020 campaign should be less of Akufo-Addo-Bawumia issues but more of NDC’s policies for the people.
“Talking about Akufo-Addo and Bawumia only makes them popular. Let us focus on the message that we have for the people. We have missed a lot of opportunities to sell our message. Let us run a campaign of substance,” he stated.
The Convener of the ‘Rejuvenated NDC4 2020 Platform’, Comrade Albert Aheto, told ghananewsonline.com.gh that the NDC must have a strategy moving into election 2020 and that such meetings offers a general platform for members with brilliant ideas to share them so leadership can factor them into their plans. He said there is going to be more of such opportunities in the various constituencies targeting different groups of people.
Source: Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh