Former Member of Parliament for Manhyia South and 2024 NPP running mate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as Napo, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, just 100 days into his return to office.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the Alisa Hotel in Ridge, Accra, on Wednesday, April 16, Napo was asked to rate President Mahama’s performance on a scale of 1 to 100. His response pulled no punches.
“It will be so bad, I don’t want to rate him,” he said bluntly.
Napo proceeded to outline what he described as a regression in key national indicators since Mahama took over the reins of government. He pointed to worsening conditions in electricity supply, galamsey (illegal mining), and national security.
“We had constant electricity, but what is happening now?” he questioned. “We had galamsey as an issue, what is happening now? We had improved as a country on illicit drug issues… but I’m talking about arresting more culprits in the last three months than in the eight years we were in office.”
He alleged that the current administration has presided over a spike in illegal currency and gold smuggling, stating that “more arrests have been made in the past three months than we’ve ever heard before.” Napo also suggested that some parliamentary candidates of the ruling NDC were being implicated in these scandals, although he did not provide specific names or evidence.
Turning to the conflict in Bawku, the former Education Minister voiced serious concerns over escalating violence and rising fatalities in the area.
“When I wake up every day, I read about things going on in Bawku…. More people have been killed in the last few months than probably was in the last four years,” he lamented. “I was hoping that his [President Mahama’s] tenure, we would not deteriorate.”
Capping his remarks, Napo accused the President of failing to match his campaign rhetoric with meaningful action.
“Talk is cheap, because if you can’t support your talk with actions,” he said, suggesting a growing disconnect between the promises made on the campaign trail and the realities of Mahama’s governance.