A former communications director for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea has urged Ghanaians to forgive President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for promising to lower petrol costs in the past.
He suggested the president should be forgiven for making that pledge during the 2016 election campaign.
These pledges are common among politicians, according to Nana Akomea, who is also the Managing Director of the State Transport Company (STC).
He explained that President Akufo-commitment Addo’s was made in the heat of the electoral campaign and should thus be ignored.
Nana Akomea who appeared with Samuel Okudzeto Ablawka, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show accused the lawmaker of making similar pledges as a member of the Committee for Joint Action, CJA.
He did add, though, that politicians should be honest and apologize to the public if they are unable to keep a promise they made.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor was singled out as a leader who admitted to not being able to keep a campaign pledge.
“Every politician on the campaign trail says the same thing.” CJA, where Sammy Okudzeto claims to have gotten his political clout, expressed similar concerns. They’re all there. When politicians campaign, they make these promises, but when they take power, reality sets in.”
“When you are a political leader and you make certain assertions as part of your messaging to the Ghanaian people, then you come into government and discover that the reality is different, you must go back and explain why you made this promise but why it is difficult for you to keep it.” That is something you must do.”
“President Kufuor is well-known for doing that whenever he speaks about a topic on which he campaigned against the Rawlings administration. He understood and accepted the reality of the situation when he first entered government and knew he couldn’t do anything about it. He acknowledged that it is different and came out and stated so. He stated, “I believe leadership should acknowledge that.”
Meanwhile, Charles Wereko Brobbey, Chief Policy Analyst at the Ghana Institute of Public Policy Options, has encouraged the government to use the oil income windfall to cushion the price.
