A vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to govern the country for another four years will totally crush the Ghanaian and leave many more young people unemployed, the 2016 Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, has opined.
He said the NPP launched a golden age of business when it was in power from 2001-2009, but if it had been successful, they would not have been replaced and added that the NDC was doing poorly on the economy.
NDC & NPP same
He said the NDC promised Ghanaians a better Ghana but had delivered a bitter one.
“Both the NDC and the NPP employ the same policies. Once they employ the same policies, they will always have the same results. It is not just about the NDC, it is also about why the NPP cannot be a potential for change. And why we need to have a radical departure, a different government, a different approach and different policies and a return to employment generation and improvement in all spheres of our national lives.
“It is very clear as we move round from constituency to constituency the number of people who are unemployed or underemployed without any significant work to occupy them,” he said.
Unemployment situation dangerous
He described the unemployment situation in Ghana as dangerous for social cohesion and added that it was time to tackle it.
Mr Greenstreet, who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the party’s campaign float in the Greater Accra Region, said the solutions proffered by the NDC and the NPP to tackle the country’s unemployment solution were not feasible as they were not tackling the problem from the root.
With the World Bank pegging the country’s unemployment figures at 48 per cent among young people between the ages of 18-24 and worse among women, he said it was the structural transformation of the economy that was necessary.
“The CPP has been advocating and putting far greater emphasis on value addition whereby we measure our economic growth not by statistics which have no bearing on the impact on the lives of the people but measure our economy also by employment growth.”
“That is why we have stated that apart from monetary and fiscal budgets, we will also have an employment budget to make it clear how our policies are impacting on the lives of the people,” he stated.
Constituencies visited
The CPP campaign train on Thursday descended on three constituencies in the Greater Accra Region.
The party took its message of change to the La Dadekotopon, Klottey Korle and Odododiodio constituencies to make a case for its election in the December 7 polls.
Mr Greenstreet was accompanied by the party’s National Women Organiser, Ms Aisha Futa, the First Vice National Chairperson, Hajia Hamdatu, the La Dadekotopon parliamentary candidate, Ms Cynthia Mensah and the party’s Klottey Korle parliamentary candidate, Mr Godwin Opare-Addo
As the float went through the La township, Ms Mensah told the Daily Graphic that she was optimistic of flooring her main contenders, the incumbent, Nii Amasa Namoale of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party’s Mr Vincent Odotei Sowah.
Ms Mensah, who contested in 2008, said her chances were brighter because “the people want change. They’re tired of the NDC and the NPP.”
She said she would put a premium on creating jobs for the unemployed youth in the mainly coastal constituency in the heart of Accra.
She also promised to fight for the needs of orphans and the vulnerable.
Scramble for T-shirt
The greatest cheers for the party on its campaign tour was at the Central Business District as the CPP candidate was mobbed by cheering traders and head porters.
Traders and head porters at Makola scrambled for the t-shirts of Mr Greenstreet as the party’s campaign train went through the Central Business District.
Excitement swept through the crowd when he rolled down the tinted windows of the pick-up vehicle to shake hands with the crowd.
They chased the convoy of the waving flag bearer asking for T-shirts. The crowd gave the two police officers and the personal security of Mr Greenstreet a hectic time.
When the T-shirts began to fly, a melee ensued with pans flying and people falling but there were no injuries.
One of the police officers had to resort to the use of police electro shocker to ward off the screaming crowd who had mobbed the CPP flag bearer.
The campaign train took the team through the La township, parts of Labone, Osu RE, the Osu Market, the Ministries, Opera Square, Rawlings Park, Makola, Adabraka, Agbogbloshie, James Town and 37.
All three constituencies visited are the strongholds of the NDC.
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