The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has disavowed its spokesperson in the Ashanti Region, Dr William Attah Usu, for saying that lion farming would be part of a 24-hour economic agenda if the next NDC government is elected.
The member of communication has come under fire this week after he made some bizarre comments while appearing on Kesebene TV in Kumasi to discuss the NDC’s 24-hour economic policy.
In the two-minute 26-second video, Dr Atta Usu, who was recruited into the Ashanti Region NDC communications team last year to utilise his knowledge to support the party, said the NDC, as part of its 24-hour economy policy, will introduce modern farming techniques that will see wild animals such as lions and elephants being reared and fed by helicopters flying over the sites.
He continued that this initiative in the agriculture sector will generate employment for KNUST students and also generate revenue for the country through the export of wild animals in dollars, thus boosting the economy.
However, the statement, which left even the show’s host perplexed, sparked widespread debate and confusion about Dr Usuh’s relationship with the NDC, leading the party to quickly distance itself from him.
The NDC is finding it difficult to explain its policies, with pundits coming up with a succession of bizarre explanations.
Dr Usu is considered a senior member as he sits in the company of the NDC flagbearer, Mr John Dramani Mahama and the party’s Manifesto Committee Secretary, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo among others.
Following the video, many netizens, including members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), also took to social media to attack the NDC communicator, accusing him of making such comments and mocking the NDC with an image of a lion.
However, members of the NDC, who are already struggling to explain their economic policies to voters round the clock, distanced themselves from the remarks and denied having any association with the communicator, saying he is not one of their members.
In a statement, NDC Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer, Abass Nurudeen, said Dr Usu was neither a parliamentary candidate nor a member of the NDC’s regional public relations team.
He stressed that the views expressed by Dr Woo Su in the video do not reflect the party’s official position on 24-hour economic policy.
He further urged producers of political talk shows in the Ashanti Region to strictly adhere to the list of approved NDC communicators when inviting representatives to their shows.
“It has come to my attention that a video has been circulating of Dr William Attah-Usu appearing on Kesben FM making a bizarre exposition of the NDC’s transformative 24-hour economic policy.”
The statement said: “For the record, Dr William Attah is neither a Parliamentary Candidate nor a member of the NDC Regional Communications Team which I lead. The views expressed by him on the 24-hour economic policy in no way represent the party’s position.”
“We urge all producers of the various political talk shows in Ashanti Region to adhere to the party’s approved list of spokespersons when inviting NDC representatives on their shows,” the statement stressed.
Nuclear power plant concerns
Reacting earlier, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, denigrated the NDC’s 24-hour economy slogan.
According to him, the opposition NDC, led by John Dramani Mahama, cannot be trusted to deliver on its promises given its performance between 2013 and 2017.
The Member of Parliament for Damango explained that the John Mahama-led government had plunged the country into erratic power supply, causing the collapse of 12-hour economy businesses and therefore could not seriously consider implementing a 24-hour economy.
Speaking as the Parliamentary Candidate for the Damango Constituency in the Savannah Region on Saturday, February 17, 2024, he told his supporters that the NDC itself has struggled to articulate policies and has failed to make any substantive policy proposals to Ghanaians since the party’s inception.
“Suddenly, out of nowhere, they say 24-hour economy. And when you ask them what they mean by 24-hour economy, they say Jack Toronto or something else. They cannot explain it. And sometimes they say it means Ghanaians will have a 24-hour economy, day and night, not just during the day. But for four years, from 2013 to 2017, when they were in power last time, they subjected this country to damsole,” Jinapor alleged.
He continued: “They imposed unreliable electricity supply on this country so that when they were in power, tailors couldn’t work during the day, let alone at night. Welders couldn’t make ends meet during the day. Carpenters couldn’t make ends meet during the day. Fitters couldn’t make ends meet during the day. Thousands, millions, millions of Ghanaians couldn’t make ends meet at night.”
-Daniel Bampeau