Presidential and vice presidential candidates for the NDC and NPP
Executive Director for the Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness, Michael Donyinah, says he feels bad for Ghana because the two manifestos launched by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) lack the key ideas and policies to solve the challenges confronting the country.
The policy analyst stated that, upon a careful review of the manifestos, there is nothing in them that has a panacea to the challenges.
He stated that the two documents lack hope and contain nothing that can address the various socioeconomic issues in the short, medium, and long term.
“I feel really sad for the country this morning. I feel sad for Ghana because, when you examine the two manifestos launched by the NDC and the NPP, in the short to medium term, they do not contain any hope. The policies cannot help transform or address our challenges or the direction of the country. The two parties both refused to address the major issues confronting us and propose any workable solutions.
“They (NPP) tagged the manifesto as a document containing bold solutions, but when you read the document, it does not contain bold solutions. Bold solutions include the political will to ban the importation of commodities we can produce or manufacture in Ghana. Committing to producing these commodities locally is a bold solution.
“If you also promise to scrap EX-GRATIA and adopt measures to address the monetisation of our politics, this is a bold solution. Bold solutions include your commitment to amend the constitution and reforms to reduce the excessive powers of the president. Bold solutions require that the appointment of the Inspector General of Police be an independent exercise, so the Police Service will have its independence in discharging its constitutional mandate,” he said.
He added “The manifestos launched by these parties contain old and recycled, unfulfilled promises. We are still going to face the same challenge, and nothing will change. Inflation will keep rising, and the cedi depreciation will continue to occur because the specific issues that we need to address have been ignored by the parties.”
He also expressed worry over the failure of the two parties to touch on the specific timeliness of executing their manifesto promises.
“It appears they are taking Ghanaians for granted and playing with our intelligence. That is why I have told you that I feel sad for Ghana. the NDC has claimed that it will reset Ghana but in resetting Ghana, the main flagship agenda should be to embark on a constitutional review to help deal with issues that are affecting the development of the country then we can take you seriously. But if we are resetting and using the same recycled approaches, then Ghana will remain undeveloped.
“So whether it is bold solutions or resetting Ghana, I don’t think there is a future in these two manifestos. But when you further break down, you will discover that some of the promises in one party’s manifesto are more realistic than others. I don’t want to mention the parties but when you examine the manifesto of the NPP you would be forced to ask if these promises are realistic, achievable or doable considering the track record they have. So there are questions, and citizens deserve answers. Ghanaian citizens must hold the two parties to account, or they will continue to take them for granted,’’ he explained.
CenPOA is a non-partisan, non-governmental civil organization founded to promote civil engagement and participation in public administration by harnessing public views to influence policy discourse and direction as well as provide the opportunity to keep the population educated and well-informed.