<<Print>>New entrant into Parliament next year, Alhassan Suhuyini has rejected the view that corruption, incompetence, and arrogance cost the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), the 2016 general elections.
In a post-election analysis, the NDC MP-elect for Tamale North in the Northern region said he is convinced that the party lost because of ignorant voters and a forgetful electorate.
Suhuyini does not believe that ¢200 million lost in SADA scandal, ¢952 million lost through GYEEDA and the payment of ¢657 million in questionable judgment debts had any impact on voters. The NDC was trounced in the December 7 polls which threw up records unseen in Ghana's politics. The NDC's presidential candidate became the first President to lose a re-election and the first to lose in a first round vote.
Mahama's 44.40% is the lowest any incumbent presidential candidate has ever obtained at the polls since a return to democracy in 1992. Although the elections was hyped as a close contest between the two parties, the NDC lost to the NPP by more than 1million votes.
But analysing its failure, three new MPs, Tamale North NDC MP Alhassan Suhuyini, NPP MP-elect George Andah and Ledzokuku NPP Dr. Okoe Boye were on Joy FM Tuesday.
The NDC MP stressed that he does not think that NDC lost because of corruption, incompetence, arrogance as claimed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The word 'incompetent' became a sensitive word during the campaign as the NPP tried to cast the NDC government as spectacularly incompetent.
"I disagree that [corruption, incompetence, arrogance cost us]. Those are not the reasons... I think forgetfulness and perhaps ignorance played a major role", he said. "If people voted because they think the NDC was corrupt it is because they have forgotten or it is because they were not, let me say, mature enough at the time NDC won power in 2009."
Explaining his point, Suhuyini said Ghanaians forgot past corruption scandals under the erstwhile NPP administration led by President John Kufuor. The Tamale North MP said Ghanaians forgot about the mismanagement of the Ghana@50 celebrations and the arrogance of certain officials like Stephen Asamoah Boateng.
Mr. Suhuyini believes children during the NPP administration between 2001 to 2008 had turned 18 years and above and had become eligible voters. These 'Primary 3, Primary 4' students turned 18 years were not 'matured enough' to remember the sins of the past NPP government.
The MP who is a show host of a pro-NDC radio station, Radio Gold repeated his party's long-held belief that the media worked against the NDC government. Suhuyini accused the media of weakening the base of the party using negative stories. He insisted "NPP's propaganda machine fuelled by a media conspiracy led to a despondency within NDC".
He stressed that the NPP media-supported propaganda machine was "so strong" and "bitter" in spite of government media blitz weeks to the elections.
Contributing to the discussion, another new entrant, the NPP's Nenyi George Andah who brought down the mighty Hanna Tetteh at Awutu Senya West expressed surprise at his opponent's view. "You are simply not reading enough, you are not smelling the ground enough, you are not hearing the people....you are living in total deception," he told Suhuyini. The former Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana and Glo Ghana's Chief Operating Officer rejected Alhassan Suhuyini's view that Ghanaians were ignorant about NPP's past sins.
George Andah said for eight years in government, the NDC failed to prosecute any NPP official for alleged corruption and mismanagement.
"You haven't been able to prosecute one single NPP official ,,,and after eight years you come and sit on air after you have lost an election and say that Ghanaians have forgotten that NPP people were corrupt?" "And you tell us that NPP people are doing propaganda? Like seriously? How does that work?"
"Ghanaians are discerning. Ghanaians are not immature.... Ghanaian heard the message of change...Ghanaians punished the NDC...Ghanaians are not an ungrateful people," the marketing guru emphasised.
The one-time CIMG Marketing Man of the Year said if the Tamale North MP and the NDC persist in this kind of analysis, then "NDC is going to be in opposition for a very, very long time".
Contributing to the debate, Ledzokuku NPP Dr. Okoe Boye said he found it unfortunate that the NDC MP-elect believes immature voters cost the government the elections. He said the 2016 elections was squarely decided by the issues of jobs and corruption. He explained voters found government's job creation record abysmal but found faith in the NPP's manifesto titled "Change, an agenda for jobs".
"The number one issue on everybody's mind was jobs...unemployment was a national security issue..." he stressed.
He stressed an NPP line of argument that Ghana is not poor, it is poorly managed. This mismanagement contributed to the problems of joblessness. He linked corruption to job creation noting that to fix the economy, it was important to kick out the NDC government.
Dr. Oko Boye said for an senior NDC member turned anti-corruption activist Martin Amidu to campaign against his own party proves that the NDC lost because of its incompetence and corruption.
"Corruption was an issue. Why wouldn't corruption be an issue if you have a founding member saying that President Mahama is a brother from the North but looking at his disposition against corrupt officials, he must go so we fix the country" he said.
The Ledzokuku MP-elect said no amount of media campaigns or propaganda can influence a voter who has had to endure 8 years of economic hardship.
"You can throw up propaganda to him that look we are doing well but it will take sometime. But after 8 years of increasing hardship, you can buy three hours of air-time, it will do little because the experience down there overwhelms what is put out there" he said.
video below:-