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Presidential hopeful of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has blamed the country’s economic woes on corrupt politicians and public servants.

According to the PPP stalwart, Ghana could have been economically far better than it is now, if her resources had been managed well by leaders of the country.

However, Dr. Nduom, who was the guest speaker at the one-week celebration of the Students’ Representative Council of Wa Polytechnic in the Upper West Region, expressed optimism that Ghana will develop if it has incorruptible leaders.

The week celebration was on the theme: “Ensuring a Peaceful, Transparent, Free and Fair Election 2016: The Role of the Polytechnic Student.”

According to him, “this country has everything to develop itself.”

Nevertheless, he stressed that it can only be achieved “if we have truthful persons in political and public offices to manage the funds available well.”

“If they manage the funds well we will get enough money to develop this nation and will not have to borrow so much from other countries,” he added.

Quoting Chapter 6 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, he reminded the students on the need to ensure that leaders of this country become responsible and accountable to the people.

He urged the students to protect and preserve public property and as well expose corrupt officials in the country.

According to him, the call for peace in this year’s elections was dead on arrival, noting that it should have started from January 2013 and not this time.

To this end, he advised the students against being used by politicians to foment trouble, before, during and after the elections.

Instead, the PPP man urged the students to be law-abiding and responsible citizens.

“When you are armed with facts, when you are armed with knowledge, when you speak with discipline, then you can make change happen,” he pointed out.

Dr. Nduom also used the opportunity to reiterate the position of the PPP on the electoral roll brouhaha.

According to him, the only way out is to strengthen the National Identification Authority (NIA) “so that it can really have the powers given it by the Constitution of Ghana to deliver on its mandate.”

He noted that neither the Electoral Commission (EC) nor any political party representative can stop somebody from registering since none has those powers to do that apart from the NIA.

“…because the NIA has not been strengthened, political party representatives have gotten the opportunity to harass and prevent people from registering, but do they have that right? We have allowed it to happen,” Dr. Nduom explained.

The NIA, he disclosed, has registered not less than 15 million Ghanaians, which according to him, could be of immense help to the country in times like this “when political parties and their representatives have usurped its constitutional powers and causing lots of mayhem around the country.”