“I have seen some big billboards of the current Vice President in town at some vantage places and I was wondering what the billboards are meant for. Are they just for the primaries? For just the primaries, you are erecting big billboards?” Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, the Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stated worryingly when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today, Thursday, July 6, 2023.
Mr. Abdallah Salifu explained that the government and government appointees, including the President, Nana Akufo-Addo and the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia had continually shown disdain to the people of Ghana while continuing splurge on projects and ventures that could be considered as vain.
“He is the Vice President and Head of the Economic Management Team and looks at what he is doing. Look, people are suffering in this country. We have situations where people have been denied promotions for almost 4 or 5 years because the government says there is no money; even in the teaching profession. We have to speak about these things.”
“As the head of the economic management team who is supposed to soften the ground for us when it comes to the economy, you go around erecting big billboards. We are about to discuss the National Buffer Stock and their challenges. Look at the nursing and teacher trainee allowances. They said we would cancel it. They said they have restored it but for more than one year now, students have completed and are home and have not even received a peswa. National Service, in arrears. NABCo, in arrears but we have seen VEEP’s big billboards,” he lamented.
The Upper East Regional Communication Officer for the NDC expressed worry that the costs of running the VEEP’s campaign could even metastasize as the campaigns intensify.
But the Deputy Upper East Regional Communication Director for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Andrew Atariwini, speaking on the same platform, rubbished some of the comparisons made by Mr. Abdallah Salifu.
Mr. Atariwini explained that the Vice President’s campaign billboards are not sponsored by the state and should not the basis for comparison, as was done by the Upper East Regional Communication Officer for the NDC.
“I just want to bring clarity to this issue. When you talk about billboards and advertisements in politics, it is essential to every campaign. The amount some people are paying to appear on radio stations and the amount others may be paying to do radio adverts or do these audio-visual adverts may be even more than erecting billboards. So there is no justification trying to paint billboards as something too extraordinary or too expensive.”
“The second thing is that political party financing doesn’t come from the state coffers. That needs to be said. These are sometimes sponsored. If you watch Dr. Bawumia’s campaign, you have seen most people supporting with pick-ups trucks and so on,” he explained.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
