The Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has reiterated the challenge posed by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to former President John Dramani Mahama for a debate.
According to the leader of Government Business, a debate between the two flagbearers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the best way for Ghanaians to compare and determine who is best suited to manage the country’s affairs.
He assured of Vice President Bawumia’s readiness to debate the issues, even as he awaits his investiture on January 7, 2025, to run the economy through digitalization.
The Effutu lawmaker, who echoed the call during a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, July 24, 2024, questioned what alternative policy solutions the NDC has to offer Ghanaians after serving eight years in government with Mr. Mahama as Vice President and President.
He indicated that the NDC and its officials, who presided over failed policies initiated during the NPP administration, have no locus to criticize the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin mentioned, for example, that the School Feeding Programme had only 1.8 million beneficiary school children during the NDC era, compared to the current 4 million children benefiting from the programme under the NPP administration.
He also stated that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), introduced by the NPP, collapsed under the NDC, with only GHC 1.6 billion spent on the scheme compared to the current GHC 6.5 billion being spent by the current administration.
Additionally, the Majority Leader said the NDC regime in 2016 spent GHC 49 million on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, compared to the GHC 423 million expended by the NPP government.
On Free Senior High School (SHS) funding, the Majority Leader accused the Mahama-led NDC government of committing just GHC 25 million to senior high school education in 2016, but only releasing GHC 12 million. The NPP government, upon assuming office in 2017, dedicated GHC 400 million to the Free SHS policy in its first budget of March 2017, while also making vocational and technical education free.
The caucus called on President Mahama not to shy away from debating Dr. Bawumia. He alleged that the NDC cannot show any significant educational infrastructure in the country apart from the fewer than 25 E-blocks completed, compared to the achievements of the NPP regime.
