Gabby Otchere-Darko, a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party and a nephew of President Akuffo-Addo, is optimistic that President Nana Akufo-Addo will emerge victorious in the 2020 elections based on the government’s developmental track record.
According to him, the elections will avail Ghanaians the opportunity to compare the performance of the current government to that of former President John Dramani Mahama.
With barely four months to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, both the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have both assured their supporters of victory.
Speaking on Citi TV’s Face to Face programme, Gabby Otchere-Darko said former President Mahama will be rejected by voters because of his shambolic performance during his tenure as President.
“You have a candidate who just lost the last election and his successor. This is the third time they will be meeting. It is not about what they promised the voters, but it is about the candidates. The promise must be measured against what one did when he was given the opportunity to serve.”
“If Akufo-Addo comes today and he says he will deliver free [SHS], you will have to find out what he promised and whether he delivered. If John Mahama comes today and he says, he will manage the economy better, I will ask him some serious questions because he inherited an oil-rich economy and within a matter of two years, he has sent us to the IMF for rescue”, he added.
Gabby Otchere-Darko also downplayed the perception of him being hugely influential in the Akufo-Addo administration despite having no official portfolio.
He described such claims as propaganda as he defended the President against claims of nepotism and cronyism.
In Gabby Otchere-Darko’s view, his critics “had to create something for me because they expected that Akufo-Addo was going to appoint me,” when the NPP was voted into power.
He, however, acknowledged that he has been influential in the political space with different presidents over the last two decades.
“It just happens that this time, the President [Nana Akufo-Addo] is someone that I am known to be very close to.”
Gabby Otchere-Darko further said persons who seemingly overestimate his influence in governance do so “because they think I merit it.”
He also held that any political appointment granted him would have been justified because of his competences despite the expected accusations of nepotism.
“If I had been offered an appointment, would it have been fair for any Ghanaian to say it was due to nepotism? [No, I would have merited it].”
Gabby Otchere-Darko proceeded to defend President Akufo-Addo, who has been accused of running a family and friends government.
The National Democratic Congress earlier came out with a list of 51 names to support its accusations of nepotism and cronyism.