the Kufuor Administration to that of the National Democratic Congress Administration when making a choice in the December elections.

He said in making a decision, the electorate had to be guided by the performance of the two political parties since 1993, adding that in making any decision the electorate had to compare the track record of those seeking their mandate.

Mr Mac Manu made the call at a press conference by the NPP in apparent reaction to a statement by Mr John Mahama, the NDC running mate, last Wednesday at the launch of the NDC campaign that reducing the election campaign to comparison of records would be “a recipe for mediocrity”.

Mr Mac Manu stated that the 2008 elections would be about leadership record and vision because the task ahead was about convincing Ghanaians about which political party could be trusted to protect and promote multi-party democracy and the one that had shown commitment to provide development and prosperity without compromising on the people’s freedom.

He suggested three areas of comparison, which were: The records of the parties when they were in government, their respective visions for the country and the competencies and experiences of the various presidential candidates.

Comparing records, Mr Mac Manu said when the Kufuor Administration placed before Parliament a Bill to replace the Cash and Carry System with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the NDC that claimed to be caring for Ghanaians walked out on their responsibility as lawmakers.

He said the NDC in their manifesto had said that feasibility studies had been completed and that when given the mandate they would test the NHIS on pilot basis, stating that that was shocking judging by the rate at which people could not bear the Cash and Carry:
 
Therefore the NPP looked at what a Catholic NGO had done in Nkoranza and implemented the NHIS nationwide as stated in its 2000 manifesto.

He said the NPP had shown commitment to the eradication of corruption, which had become socially endemic, and had equipped various state institutions and passed the Public Procurement and Financial Management Act to bring transparency into the public procurement system.

Mr Mac Manu said Prof. Mills said he would not permit Ghana to become a haven for drug pushers, a similar statement he made when he was the Vice-President before the NDC lost the elections, but in 1999 a US government report stated that, “Ghana is increasingly becoming a transit point for illegal drugs particularly cocaine and heroine from South America and South East Asia.”

He also quoted a Daily Graphic report during the NDC regime that stated that 300 narcotic cases went unprosecuted, and also cited Mr K. A. Banful, then Chairman of the Narcotics Control Board, and Deputy Minister of the Interior’s complaint during a World Drugs Day celebration in 1995 that “there have been increases of between 250 per cent and 7,000 regarding narcotics drug seizures, between the last quarter of 1994 and the first quarter of 1995”.

According to Mr Mac Manu, in 1996 a huge consignment of hard drugs, valued at £60 million, escaped from Ghana to the UK, where evidence was given at a UK law court that there was alleged state involvement, but the NDC’s response was that it was the opposition that was behind it.

Mr Mac Manu said if the economic trend under the PNDC and NDC, which saw the cedi depreciating from 3,500 cedis to the dollar in January 2000 to ¢7,000 to the dollar in December 2000, had continued, Ghanaians would be buying the dollar at ¢900,000.

He admitted that under the NPP administration tro-tro fares had increased by 290 per cent with crude oil price increasing six fold.

He, however, noted that under the NDC regime, between January 1993 and December 2000, the fares for the minimum tro-tro ride rose from ¢45 to ¢775, representing an increase of about 1,600 per cent.

He said pensioners who were taking home ¢10,000 from 1999 to the last three years saw no increase in their pensions, but currently the same pensioner was receiving ¢220,000 representing 2,100 per cent, in the first seven years of the NPP administration.

Concerning the assertion by Prof. Mills that he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the NPP chairman expressed shock at how a son of a schoolteacher and a trader in pre-independence era wanted Ghanaians to believe that he had a difficult time during childhood.

He said although Prof. Mills said he had difficulties during childhood, he was lucky to have had “a golden spoon” in his mouth when former President Rawlings appointed him head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for eight years, the Vice-President in 1996, NDC presidential candidate for the 2000 elections and supported again to be the party’s presidential candidate till date.

He said all this while, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP presidential candidate, who was proud to have been related to three of the ‘Big Six’ in Ghana’s political history, had given of his best in the struggle with the people of Ghana for a better life.

Mr Mac Manu said on the contrary, while Prof. Mills was enjoying his youthful days in the comfort of academia, Nana Akufo-Addo went out with friends and colleagues to fight against all forms of totalitarian regimes in the country, including the PNDC.

He said in 1975 Nana Akufo-Addo gave up a lucrative legal practice in France with Coudert Brothers to return to Ghana, and two years later became the General Secretary of the People’s Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ), that vehemently opposed attempts by Gen Acheampong’s government to introduce the UNIGOV system in Ghana.

He said Nana Addo also led some opposition lawyers to oppose Dr Limann’s moves to dismiss Chief Justice Apaloo, thereby upholding judicial independence, and was also at the forefront in the struggle to ensure that the country entered democratic rule.

Source: Graphic