The Youth wing of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has described Editor of the Daily Dispatch Newspaper, Ben Ephson as a journalist who only does the bidding of his pay masters.
In a statement signed by the Upper East Coordinator of the Progressive Youth Movement (PYM), Emmanuel Nsobila, the group called on Ghanaians to ignore a publication by the paper he edits which claimed the PPP was in talks with the NPP to merge with the opposition party.
“This [report] should be treated by the public as fallacious and a deliberate ploy by the editor of the Newspaper, Mr. Ben Ephson to perpetuate the bidding of his pay Masters (NDC). We are sick and tired of these kinds of blank stories without any groundwork of seriousness…,” the group said in the statement.
Read below the full statement:
We the members of the Progressive Youth Movement in the Upper East Region, a youth wing of Progressive People’s Party (PPP) wish to state unequivocally that we are not in the least amused by the Daily Dispatch Newspaper report that, ‘the leadership of the PPP has already commenced talks, behind closed doors with the NPP for a possible collaboration to wrestle power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in next year’s elections’.
This should be treated by the public as fallacious and a deliberate ploy by the editor of the Newspaper, Mr. Ben Ephson to perpetuate the bidding of his pay Masters (NDC). We are sick and tired of these kinds of blank stories without any groundwork of seriousness.
We must confess that we are very disappointed with such publication. We expect Daily Dispatch to rather use its platform to publish stories that would enlighten the good people of Ghana about how the NDC government has crippled sensitive sectors of the economy and brought untold hardships to the ordinary people.
We want to remind Mr. Ben Ephson and his cohorts that the PPP’s dominion is not for rent or lease. We are only interested in winning political power and using the government’s purchasing power to better the lot of Ghanaians. We are working very hard to field our own parliamentary candidates and a Presidential candidate to compete for the votes of Ghanaians, considering the fact that majority of Ghanaians have lost confidence in both the NDC/NPP.
On the other hand, it is difficult for us to even understand how both NPP/NDC will think of forming an alliance with the PPP, when they have clearly demonstrated that they are disinterested in our policies. How can they convince us to admit them? Ben Ephson should spend some time to find out from the NDC/NPP if they are willing to push the PPP’s agenda whiles in government?
The PPP is saying that, for any form of alliance or merger between NPP/NDC to be taken into consideration by our party, these two political parties must double up their courage, start espousing and working towards the following:
1. Ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity, water and fuel,
2. Provide Free, Continuous and Compulsory education policy from kindergarten to Senior High School level,
3. Fight corruption and ensure the passage of the Freedom of Information bill into Law,
4. Decouple the legislature from the executive through a change in the constitution,
5. Use the purchasing power of the state to promote what we produce in Ghana,
6. Ensure we have an independent Attorney General separate from the Minister of Justice,
7. Give Ghanaians the opportunity to elect their own DCE/MCEs without any interference from the Presidency,
8. Improve the health Sector drastically,
9. Provide well-built homes on secure tenancies at reasonable rents to ordinary Ghanaians in excess of 10,000 in every Region,
10. Ameliorate our road network by building inter-regional highways.
These are the things we want to do when we win power. PPP wants the opportunity to implement an Agenda for Change when our candidate is made President of the Republic of Ghana come January 2017. This Agenda is built on four pillars – Stewardship, Education, Healthcare and Jobs. We will implement the Agenda using the spirit of inclusiveness that will enable us to use the best Ghanaians; full participation of women and the youth; and above all a leadership that is incorruptible. By dealing with corruption, we can double government revenue which we will use to pay for our transformational initiatives in education, healthcare and job creation
Long Live the Youth of PPP
Long Live the beloved Progressive People’s Party
Long Live Ghana
