The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has acknowledged the suffering of Ghanaians and said that things have greatly improved for them since former President John Mahama’s administration.
In the 2016 presidential campaign, Dr. Bawumia emphasised that Ghanaians’ suffering must be the foundation for change.
On Sunday, August 25, at the Accra-Movenpick Hotel, Dr. Bawumia did acknowledge that although Ghanaians continue to endure difficulties, the nation has made great strides and has policies in place to lessen their burden.
He emphasised the expansion of the GDP and per capita income in addition to the job creation as indicators of this success.
“I remember very well in my statement, teachers are suffering, doctors are suffering, nurses are suffering, journalists are suffering and everybody is suffering in 2016, which was the case actually in that regard. But I think that we have moved on significantly since 2016.
“And we can point to a few things, at the end of the day, you reduce suffering broadly, like creating jobs, so that you give people something to do. Or you bring in social interventions to ameliorate the problems, the hardships that are there.
He emphasised, “So, you need to look at what we have done. We have created at least 2.1 million jobs, and per capita income in cedi terms has gone up almost threefold. GDP has gone up, and per capita income has also gone up. We have kept all public sector workers employed.
“We didn’t lay anyone off during COVID-19. We have kept the lights on for 8 years, we suffered so much from “Dumsor”. Nursing and teacher trainees were suffering but we have restored their allowances. We have done quite a bit to reduce the suffering of people.
“I think that, yes, the suffering is there, but we have done a lot of social interventions to ameliorate that suffering, it is not gone, but we can point to things that have gone in to reduce the suffering of our people,” Dr Bawumia stated.
