Talk Is Cheap; Go Digital In Presenting Your Achievements “To Debate” Nana Addo – Wontumi Barks At Mahama
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has waded into the controversy generated over the debate request made by the former President to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, by calling his bluff.
Speaking on Wontumi TV/Radio Kumasi on Monday, Chairman Wontumi said, “talk is cheap” but what can give a consideration to John Mahama’s apprehension in the wildest imagination of the discerning Ghanaian “is for him to also go digital with his achievements just in case he has something different from the the pictures in the Green Book to flount.”
“What Ghanaians would be most interested in, in judging who has done better is for the NDC’s flag bearers to do a comparative digital analysis of what he did in eight years as against Nana Addo’s three and half years.” He seems to have thrown a challenge.
John Mahama made the presidential debate request recently while addressing the chiefs and people of Dzolokpuita in the Ho West Constituency of the Volta Region as part of a four day tour of the Region. Apparently, his wants his “scanty track record” to be compared to Nana Nana Addo’s massive infrastructural development which has swept across the entire nation.
“…It’s easy to settle the issue of infrastructure”, John Mahama said, adding: “After all, the President said this election is going to be an election of track records; comparing his track records to my track records”.
“We can settle it easily: Let’s have a debate between the two of us”, he challenged the President.
Chairman Wontumi who stopped short of saying that there are no basis for doing any such comparing contest between the two giants in Ghana politics said that “Nana Addo is to busy getting projects off the ground as well as commissioning completed ones.”
“Time is of essence and certainly, not on the side of the sitting President to engage in a wasteful verbal competition, because he has more serious engagements to occupy him.” He charged.
Chairman Wontumi however, offered what may appear to be a life line lfor the former President by urging him to “tune in to Wontumi TV/Radio on Monday to Friday every week, between 4pm – 6 pm to appraise himself of what has been achieved district by district.”
“My various news communication platforms on air and online have a scheduled programme on showcasing NPP’s infrastructural development achievements which can be of interest of John Mahama to visualize and assess how long the distance between him and the current President is.” He suggested.
According to him, John Mahama can take advantage of the series to get a truer picture of how far the NPP has gone in “making development for all a reality.”
He continued that the former President can even have a more shorter route to satisfy his curiosity which is to get out of his comfort zone and visit www.deliverytracker.gov.gh
The website which was launched last week by the Vice Presidential Alhaji Dr. Mahammudu Bawumia is available to all to track the NPP’s infrastructural projects undertaken by the Nana Addo’s government.
Launching it Dr. Bawumia said, “it would enable all Ghanaians to have access to and interrogate the data that the government has put together.”
According to the Vice President, “The infrastructure data when you get to this address can be obtained either by sectors like education, health, agriculture, and the rest. You can also search by region specifics as well or you can go by districts. So everything can be found on this website,” he added.
NPP’s Position On Mahama’s Presidential Debate Request
The Presidential debate request by the former President is showing signs of still birth within the ruling party’s circles.
Every NPP functionary who has commented on the issue has rubbished it request by referring to as unnecessary and waste of time
The National Organizer of the NPP Sammi Awuku, who was the first high profile member of the NPP to publicly respond to the beating of the debate drums noted that: “We have projects that you can feel, you can see, and they are tangible. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you something is happening around the Pokuase interchange area, you don’t need someone to tell you there is something happening around the Tema motorway. You also don’t need someone to tell you when you use the Abossey Okai area of an interchange, you don’t need someone to tell you when you go to Tamale today, they are having their first interchange under the NPP’s administration.
“So, I’m not too sure what Mr Mahama wants us to do…we have our own campaign strategy, we have our own campaign plans and the NPP will go according to its own strategy. We don’t need a debate to tell you that these are tangible things happening across the country.
“If Mr Mahama wants a debate, from where I sit today, I don’t think the NPP has given it a thought. The NPP will fight this election on our own terms. As I speak, the party hasn’t given it a thought for us to have any debate with Mr Mahama, we are going according to our campaign strategy…Bawumia put forward data-driven presentation…we want Mr Mahama or his running mate to put forward another data-driven presentation to counter what Dr Bawumia did. Let’s set that ground rules first and then we can move to the next stage.”