Trust is a very important ingredient in our politics and society and the basis of trust is truth. For our democracy to work, people must believe our politicians. For our society to work, people must believe that our leaders speak the truth.

Unfortunately, since the return of the NDC to government, there has been a deliberate, systemic and sustained campaign to mislead Ghanaians about crucial issues. Indeed, this campaign of lies was central to the NDC’s 2008 campaign. During the campaign, they lied gleefully about issues and their opponents. Innocent people were accused of crimes they had never committed and the NPP was portrayed falsely as a corrupt and uncaring party. During their testimony before the Appointments committee of Parliament in early 2009, nominee after nominee stepped up to admit to the committee that they had lied deliberately about people and policies during the campaign and that the lies were “just platform talk.” Unfortunately, the platform talk has been carried into government with members of the government failing repeatedly to meet the basic standards of honesty in communicating with Ghanaians.

The list of the NDC lies is endless.

They admit to the World Bank and IMF that they inherited a good economy while telling Ghanaians that they inherited a bankrupt economy. The icing on the cake was President Mills’ claim, made at Bolga that nothing was achieved under the Kufuor regime.

Honourable Okudzeto Ablakwa claimed the government has created over a million jobs when there is no iota of evidence to support that and was contradicted by Hon. E.T. Mensah in Parliament with no sanction for Ablakwa’s blatant lie.

The President denies ever promising to put money in people’s pockets. He should examine his campaign promises. Many of his words are still available on tape.

The President warns against smuggling even while his Vice pulls strings to get Amanjaro, a British company that has been banned for smuggling cocoa, a reprieve from a just ban imposed by the Cocoa Marketing Board. In this sordid affair, there are questions about both substance and process. Even if the Vice-President received no financial benefit for his interference for the reversal of the ban, what was the justification for his interference? Why would other potential smugglers be deterred when they know that despite the warnings by the President, they can obtain a reprieve with the right contacts?

The government feigns indignation about the sale of state lands to members of the public, including NPP members when many of their members retain title to lands they acquired while in government. If there is something wrong with the acquisition of land under the NPP government why is it not equally wrong to acquire land under the NDC?

They make claims about inflation that are patently misleading. Even while the prices of basic foods, services and tolls rise, the government congratulates itself on stabilizing the economy.

They make claims about implementation of single-spine that are untrue. Indeed, by the time all is said and done, instead of single-spine, we may see double and triple-spine salary structures implemented.

They claimed there were no problems with this year’s Hajj when there were problems. Despite the premature self-congratulations, indeed some of our Muslim brethren were unable to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

They assured parents that Senior Secondary schools were ready for their wards when the schools were not. As I write, many parents and children are in distress about admissions that cannot be effected because of inadequate facilities.

While the lies of the government are bad, it is worsened by a tendency to find scapegoats for their failures. For instance, despite clear evidence that Ghanaians are worried about security in our homes and on our roads, the government, with the President leading, claims loudly that enemies of the government are concocting stories to spread fear and panic amongst Ghanaians.

This NDC strategy of saying everything to be elected and then saying anything to stay in power is undermining not just our politics but our society.

It is tarnishing the image all politicians, regardless of our party affiliations and that is unfortunate.

It is time for politicians, including the responsible ones in the NDC to stand up and be counted for truth. Furthermore, the NDC strategy is hampering our development by diverting the national conversation into areas that do not advance the common interest.

Also, it is setting a bad example for the youth who regard political leaders as role models. When our children see our leaders lying all the time, why will they also not lie?

On behalf of the New Patriotic Party, I make today, an urgent call to the NDC and its government to return to the politics of truth and trust. The future of our children is too important to be sacrificed by the divisive effects of lies. I urge the President to deal with Ghanaians honestly and to insist that all his appointees do so as well.

To be candid though, the NDC have had a lot of help in their politics of distortion. Many in the media, through incompetence or ill-motive have been eager to amplify without verification, the lies spewed by the President and his minions. I urge those in the media guilty of this great betrayal of their profession and their country, to mend their ways. Responsible journalists should not report what politicians say without verification. Let the media investigate and put out the truth about the lies I have cited here, in the interest of journalism and our country. Let the media withhold their microphones from those who put out lies into our public square. Let the media investigate the Okudzeto job claims, the economy Kufuor’s government left for the NDC, how Amanjaro’s ban was lifted and the Vice-President’s role, the state of crime and many other important issues and put out the truth. Let them shine the light on the number of spines that exist in our salary structures.

While the executive is the major culprit here, Parliament has been derelict as well. I urge Parliament to perform its duty of executive oversight. Parliament must not be part of the government’s misinformation campaigns. When phony foreign companies are presented to Parliament as credible entities that can give us loans far in excess of their capitalization, Parliament must do due diligence and expose the lies. When it lends its approval to such half-baked proposals, it undermines its own credibility as well as that of our democracy and our country.

To the general public, I urge that you hold government functionaries and indeed all politicians accountable for gaps between the truth and what they say. Let us discourage the politics of lies by refusing to support politicians who have chosen to build their careers on lies.

Today, I urge all Ghanaian institutions, the press and the public to join me in a crusade to restore to our politics truth-telling and trust.

Let us move forward, together and in truth.

God bless you and God bless Ghana.

Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey

National ChairmanEW PATRIOTIC PARTY