Seven out of ten Ghanaians one may encounter believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction, a study by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has revealed.
This CDD survey covered the period of July 2 to 18, does not reflect kindly on President John Mahama and his governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) as it gauges the mood of the electorate, going into the 2016 polls, is broadly negative.
“Seven in 10 Ghanaians believe the country is going in the wrong direction; and nearly half blame this ‘completely’ or ‘mostly’ on the government. Only a quarter think the country is headed in the right direction,” according to the survey.
The survey was conducted from a sample size of 2,400 adults, from 163 districts and 291 towns and villages.
“Majority of Ghanaians offer highly negative evaluations of national economic (7 in 10), and their own living conditions (65 percent).
However, more are optimistic than pessimistic about the prospect of improvement a year from now,” the survey indicated.
The government is seen to receive poor grades from a majority of Ghanaians across a range of macroeconomic indicators, including narrowing income gaps, prices of goods, job creation, improving living standards and management of the economy.
The survey’s findings indicated that “majority rate the government as ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ bad in the delivery of a range of economic and social goods: providing reliable electricity, combating corruption, ensuring enough food for everyone; providing water and sanitation, improving basic health services and maintaining bridges/roads and addressing educational needs.”
Views ahead of polls
Ahead of the elections in December, the CDD’s findings also indicated that, Ghanaians view unemployment, electricity and education as key policy priorities they want the 2016 polls to address, and “a narrow majority seems to believe that, another political party can do a better job of addressing their first most important problem.”
The survey also revealed that, bad roads, government corruption, power outages, high prices of food, access to medical care, use of abusive language, posture of politicians among others, “would have a great deal of or some influence on their choice of candidates and parties.” A copy of the survey findings can be viewed here.
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