Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) intends on ending the cycle of political power changing hands every eight years.
His comment follows the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) prediction that the NDC will win the 2024 general election.
“The next parliamentary and presidential elections are due in 2024. Under the constitutionally mandated term limits, Mr Akufo-Addo cannot run for a third term.”
“Mr Mahama is reportedly considering whether to run again, but we expect the NDC to seek to revitalise its prospects with a fresh candidate. After two terms of NPP government, we expect the NDC to win the 2024 presidential election and to gain a small majority in parliament,” the EIU said in a recent report.
The Minister at a press conference held on Sunday, March 21, 2021, said the governing NPP has decided to sustain the support of Ghanaians in 2024 through viable economic policies.
“We are very much aware of this tendency [as observed in the EIU report], but we believe that this whole thing where every 8 years even when the country is making progress, power changes hands, it is something that can actually set us back. That is why this administration intends to work very hard to retain the confidence of the people by the time that our second term mandate is done. So that we can break the 8 years cycle.”
“So it will ordinarily be a risk but it is a phenomenon that we are akin to break and this expectation that every 8 years power changes hands, which is what is informing what they have put out there, is one that we intend to break,” the Minister added.
The Minister emphasized that the NPP government seeks to re-engineer a recovery of the economy through the creation of jobs and other viable policies.
The NPP will have a new flagbearer for the first time in four elections as President Akufo-Addo prepares to end his final term as President.
There is currently intense campaign ongoing on social media and other platforms from the camps of the various flagbearer hopefuls, although campaign activities are yet to be sanctioned by the National Executive Committee and the National Council of the party.
A Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Obiri Boahen has criticized persons who have started campaigning, describing the act as unacceptable.
