The National Youth Organizer of Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP), Salam Mustapha, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of plagiarizing policy ideas from the NPP’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Mustapha contends that the NDC’s recent youth manifesto incorporates several initiatives originally proposed by Bawumia.
Mustapha claimed that the NDC hastily adopted these policies during its youth manifesto launch, asserting that the NPP remains unfazed by what it perceives as the opposition party’s lack of originality, demonstrating their resilience and focus.
He highlighted that some policies featured in the NDC’s manifesto were already part of the NPP’s agenda.
“The policies unveiled by the NDC last week mirror ideas Dr. Bawumia had previously introduced,” Mustapha said. “This reflects the NPP’s forward-thinking approach.
The initiatives the NDC is now promoting were originally part of our platform. Although the NDC may have rushed their manifesto launch, we remain unconcerned.”
In an interview with Nana Yaa Brefo on Onua FM, Mustapha accused the NDC of being aware that the policies they claimed as their own were, in fact, NPP proposals.
He cited Dr Bawumia’s earlier commitment to provide free university education for people with disabilities, which the NDC later included in their manifesto, as a prime example.
Mustapha also pointed out that Bawumia had first proposed training one million youths in ICT on February 7th, a concept subsequently adopted by the NDC.
Further, Mustapha noted that similar promises were featured in the NPP’s 2020 manifesto and have already seen implementation, such as developing Tech Giants to teach coding to young people.
He also referenced the NPP’s initiation of free data services for public universities and pilot programs in senior high schools as evidence of the party’s proactive stance, demonstrating their commitment and capability.
Mustapha concluded by questioning the NDC’s ability to effectively implement these policies, suggesting that “when you don’t originate an idea, implementing it becomes much harder.”
