Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, a former Attorney-General and a leading member of the National Democratic Congress took her turn on Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor on Sunday April 28, 2024.
They discussed a wide range of issues including the running mate of former President Mahama, erratic power supply (Dumsor) and voting trends in the Ashanti Region.
Here are 8 Hot issues from the show:
- Opoku-Agyemang has what it takes to bring NDC victory – Mould-Iddrisu
Betty Mould-Iddrisu believes that the selection of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate to the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) former President John Dramani Mahama will bring more votes to the NDC for victory in this year’s elections.
She noted that the NDC needs half a million votes to emerge victorious in the general elections. Prof Opoku-Agyemang, she said, has the ability to draw a good number of these votes to the party.
“We need just half a million votes to win. Prof Naana has what it takes to bring us victory,” Betty Mould-Iddrisu said.
She added “I’m delighted we’ve been able to come out with the pairing in very good time, we’re confident of victory.”
The NDC outdoored Prof Opoku Agayemang on Wednesday, April 24 at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
2. Dumsor under NDC wasn’t as bad as under NPP – Mould-Iddrisu
The former Attorney-General believes that the Mahama administration managed the power crisis better than how the New Patriotic Party administration is doing.
She said the erratic power supply (Dumsor) that Ghanaians experienced under the NDC was not as bad as what is currently happening under the Akufo-Addo administration.
Speaking on the show she said “The Dumsor we’re experiencing now is unparalleled, even our time wasn’t as bad.”
Her comments come just a few days after the Former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, also stated that the current power outages are not as severe as the one experienced under the Mahama administration.
Prof Adei however said if the current situation is not dealt with appropriately the challenge will escalate.
“The power crisis is not as bad as the Dumsor days but if we don’t take care, it will only get worse,” he told TV3’s Beatrice Adu in an interview on Monday, April 22.
3. SSNIT is evidently on the verge of collapse – Former Attorney-General
Betty Mould-Iddrisu said the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is obviously collapsing.
She described as shocking, the revelation that SSNIT reserves will soon be depleted.
“It’s shocking, SSNIT is evidently on the verge of collapse,” Madam Mould-Iddrisu said while commenting on a prediction by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that the reserves of SSNIT are going to be completely depleted by 2036.
According to ILO, total income including contributions, investment income, and other income, will no longer be sufficient to pay for annual expenditures including benefit payments to pensioners by 2029.
“Starting in 2029, total income (contributions, investment income and other income) is no longer sufficient to pay for annual expenditures.
“The reserve starts to decrease. During the year 2036, the reserve drops to zero” the research emphasised.
4. Judgement against spousal salary payment: We need to look at it again – Mould-Iddrisu
The one-time Education Minister called for a second look at the Supreme Court judgment on the payment of salaries to the First and Second Ladies.
She believes that the work that the first and second ladies do is enormous, yet they do not have the resources to fund them.
“I believe the work the First and Second ladies do is so much. They don’t have the resources to cover the cost of the work they do. I believe we need to look at this again,” she opined.
The Supreme Court has ruled that payment of salaries to the First and Second Ladies is unconstitutional.
The decision of the apex court followed a suit by Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as ‘Abronye’ seeking to reverse the payment of salaries approved for First and Second Ladies.
5. ‘This is the time for women’ – Betty Mould-Iddrisu on Prof. Jane’s selection as NDC’s running mate
Ghana’s first female Attorney-General said the women majority in Ghana are clamouring for a seat at the top of the political hierarchy, the reason Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang’s re-selection as running mate for the NDC couldn’t have come at a better time.
“There are 16.8 million women in Ghana, we need a seat at the top table now. This is the time for women and I think it’s the best political position. I don’t think there is any looking back,” she noted.
She noted that the candidacy of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast goes beyond selecting a female.
According to her, “it’s not even about being the first [female Vice President], as Naana Jane herself said”, but also an opportunity to bring a “viable genderisation into our politics because our political parties have not been very good on gender issues, so this is our opportunity.”
6. Mahama probably considered Naana so the pair might exit together – Betty Mould-Iddrisu on NDC’s choice of running mate
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart stated what she thinks could be one of the considerations John Mahama made in the choice of his running mate.
The former Attorney-General under the erstwhile Mills’ administration says the former President probably didn’t want to bear the yoke of imposing a candidate on the party after his term of office.
According to her, Mahama, who has just one term of office to serve, wants someone he could exit with after his tenure, the reason he re-selected the Professor in order to provide a leveled grounds for the party’s presidential aspirants in the next political season.
“The dynamics this time around is different. President John Dramani Mahama is going in for just the four-year term and as a party, we are then going into another period of choosing another leader. And I believe, maybe one of his considerations is that if I bring Naana Jane on board, then the pair of us might exit. I’m just saying that might be one of his considerations instead of the party people likely saying “you cannot impose a successor on us”, that type of politicking. So I think that might have been a consideration this time,” she said.
Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the first person the NDC has repeated as a running mate for a major election whilst in opposition.
7. Election 2024: ‘Ashantis now know’ – Betty Mould-Iddrisu on why NDC will break NPP’s ‘world bank’
Betty Nah-Akuyea Mould-Iddrisu reiterated her stance that the dynamics of the 2024 elections will not be the same compared to the previous years, regarding the fortunes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region.
The elephant fraternity have been receiving an average of 70 per cent of the votes from the Ashanti Region since the Fourth Republic, thus earning the title ‘World Bank’ of the NPP.
But according to the former Attorney-General, residents of the region have come to the realisation that the NPP has always taken them for a ride when it comes to development, indicating the charade of the government will not alter what the people have decided this time around.
She noted that the construction equipment the government has deployed in the region because it is an election year, will not influence the people who have made up their minds already.
“I told you I’m there and I was definitely there throughout 2020 and it’s exactly the same things that they did so now the Ashantis are saying ‘Mopɛ sɛ mobu yɛn kwasea biom? Yɛmmpene o!’ to wit, we won’t allow you to take us for granted anymore; bringing in articulated [trucks], land excavators, land graders to come and do roads. We even saw it at the Kumawu by-election and even at Assin North,” she said.
According to her, “Ashantis now know, the old women in the village now know that this is the modus operandi, to come and excuse me to say, blinker us, I don’t want to say fool us. But this is what they do [and] it is not being taken seriously at all.”
8. Dumsor in Ashanti Region worse after commissioning of renamed Ameri power plant – Betty Mould-Iddrisu
The leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) averred that the intermittent power supply a.k.a. dumsor, being experienced by residents of the Ashanti Region became worse after the renaming and commissioning of the Ameri Power Plant.
She said the government’s promise of curbing the power outages in the region with the commissioning of the plant was a mere gimmick as things have now become worse.
As a resident of the region herself, Madam Mould-Iddrisu explained how they have suffered the past few months with dumsor, maintaining that the situation was better even when the plant was idle.
“And they believe that they have suffered. I come from a small village in Kwabre and I tell you, what we suffered, I was home last week, the dumsor, after the renaming of Ameri Power Plant, the dumsor that we have experienced in Ashanti Region is unparalleled even during our time, there wasn’t dumsor like that and people are really now fed up,” she alleged.
Watch the show here: Facebook
NB: With additional files from Laud Nartey and Felix Anim-Appau.
