Dr. Tony Aidoo, who once served as Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, has said there’s fundamentally nothing significant to show for a change of government in Ghana.
Dr. Aidoo, who was once the Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation in the previous NDC regime, expressed disappointment over the lack of selflessness of political leaders in the country.
He said the managers of the country’s economy only promote their selfish interest, breeding vigilante groups among other disgruntled political groups.
“The welfare of the mass population has not mattered much to the political leadership as much as their own parochial welfare and every change of government is nothing but a change of an elite to replace the previous administration’s elite…The gap between the rich and poor continues to widen,” he said.
Dr. Aidoo made the remarks at the national conference of a group calling itself ‘The Progressive Intellectuals on ‘Rethinking Political Leadership in Ghana’.
NDC congresses only about elections, not policies – Tony Aidoo
Dr. Tony Aidoo also criticized the format of his party, the NDC’s delegates conferences, which he says focuses less on policies and programmes for national development.
According to him, the congresses were only geared towards winning elections, a development he believes is unfortunate.
He said the failure of the party to make time for the discussion of policies forced him to stop attending the party’s congresses.
“I stopped attending NDC congresses as far back as [year] 2000 because our congresses never extended to the discussions of policies and programmes. It was only for elections. Election of party officials and flagbearer whose razzmatazz ends and we go. We never had time to discuss policies and programmes, ” he said.
Tony Aidoo, who once served as Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation in the previous NDC administration, said the party appears to have lost its focus on its foundation as social democrats, noting that there’s almost no difference between the party and its main political contender, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“No wonder the ideological difference between the NDC and the NPP have narrowed to the extent that there is no distinction between the two, and yet there should be distinction. We are supposed to be social democrats for God sake and what do social democrats do. They consider policies and programmes that inure to the benefit of the wider and larger majority of the population rather than contribute to what is happening,” Dr. Tony Aidoo said.
