The acting National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, is blaming the supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and their media sympathisers for making the issue of vigilantism seem like a major problem in the country.
“This country is peaceful; we have had a couple of elections and they were all peaceful. I do not think that the so-called vigilantism is a major problem we need to worry our head over,” he insisted.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Wednesday, the acting national chairman indicated that while he was not endorsing vigilantism “hell has not broken loose in the country and we have had no occasion where any opposition member, including NDC members, are being beaten up”.
High moral ground
Speaking on issues bordering on good governance in the country, Mr Blay said it was worrying “to see NDC members and their media sympathisers harping on the so-called vigilantism; this is hypocritical to say the least”.
The NPP acting national chairman, said it was ironical to see the NDC jumping up to the high moral ground when they came from a background of revolution and violence.
Rather, Mr Blay advised that “concerted efforts need to be put in place by all stakeholders, including the NDC, to tackle more vigorously the issue of Fulani menace and the tribal politics which could be described as the major problem facing the country.”
Vigilantism
Explaining why some youth of the NPP were seeking government attention by engaging in acts of lawlessness, Mr Blay said: “Some of our youth who protected us throughout the 2016 election campaign are now clamouring for jobs.”
He explained that some NPP supporters, particularly the youth, feel discriminated against and ignored by the former NDC regime so their expectations from the government in power are naturally high.
“Sometimes I have a feeling they are right but we say to them to be patient,” he stated.
“It is painful that young men and women have not got jobs because of the wrong economic policies of the past NDC administration,” he stated.
NPP administration
Behind the scene, Mr Blay gave an assurance that the NPP was putting in place pragmatic measures to satisfy the many Ghanaian young men and women who were unemployed.
He disclosed that within 10 months of the NPP administration, more than 200,000 jobs had been created and further pointed out that under the “planting for food and jobs programme, the NPP was in the process of creating one million jobs to meet the needs of the broad majority of Ghanaians”.
The economic system, Mr Blay said, had shown that unemployment was rife and a lot of young men and women did not have jobs but gave an assurance that the NPP would do everything possible to satisfy Ghanaians and those who voted them into power.
“We are fashioning out good policies such as the one-district, one-factory, one-village, one-dam and the free Senior High School education among other initiatives for the well-being of Ghanaians.
According to Mr Blay, the overarching goals of government policies were not only geared to satisfy the youth of the NPP but the broad spectrum of the Ghanaian populace.
So far, so good
On the performance of the NPP administration within the last 10 months, Mr Freddie Blay stated: “So far so good; the NPP government under hardworking Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was doing extremely well considering the very poor state of the economy it inherited.”
He indicated that when the NPP took up the reins of government, all the indexes were bad with high inflation and interest rates.
He further said the currency experienced fluctuations, GDP was low and growth rate was at its lowest for years, while corruption was a canker eating deep into the fabric of the society.
“We have done so well as our flagship policies are being launched and implemented,” he stated, adding that “These are not gimmicks but we are working hard to deal with the challenges.”
He, however, cautioned that “We are not out of the woods yet because the economy was really messed up.”
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