2020 NPP Manifesto Promises As Compared To That Of 2016

2020 NPP MANIFESTO IN THE LIGHT OF PROMISES MADE IN THE 2016 ONE

Electoral manifestos play a cardinal role in political party democracy and political science analyses. Manifestos provide a compendium of valid party position and are used as campaign material. Manifestos of political parties represent their ideology and talking points on policy issues. The 2016 NPP manifesto, will go down in history as the most popular as a lot of promises made became a household jargon. Most popular of these promises were: one district, one factory, one district, one warehouse, one village, one Dam, Free Senior High School (SHS) among others. The 2016 manifesto was themed: ‘Change: an agenda for jobs, creating prosperity and equal opportunity for all’. In that manifesto, most of the promises were fulfilled. Free SHS was successfully implemented, one district, one factory has commenced however not all districts in Ghana have benefited, one village, one dam commenced but some villages have not had theirs yet, one district, one warehouse is also progressing. Analysts are not sure whether government intended to fully complete all the policies in the manifesto before the end of its first term or government was over ambitious. To a large extent the 2016 manifesto was able to create jobs through initiatives such as 1D1F and consequently equal opportunity for all through free SHS.

All too soon the 2016 NPP manifesto has become obsolete and a 2020 manifesto has been introduced under the theme: Leadership of service; protecting our progress, transforming Ghana for all. Although the 2020 manifesto is not as popular as that of 2016 which had a lot of jargons which Ghanaians identified with, it addresses contemporary issues in unemployment, poverty, agriculture development, economic issues, trade among others. In agricultural, the manifesto intends to link production to industry through 1D1F. Linking agriculture to industry will lead to reduction in post-harvest losses which stands at 14 percent to 16 percent. Most companies under 1D1F require quality raw materials as inputs so linking agriculture to industry via 1D1F is a brilliant idea that can reduce the importation of raw materials, ensure ready market and regular income for farmers. However, that policy will be successful if farmers produce specified raw materials required by industry. In agriculture the manifesto also promises diversification of export, large scale enterprise of cocoa, palm oil, legume, cereals and rice. That policy is laudable because it will generate foreign exchange for the country. For instance, between 2014 and 2016, Ghana imported between 2.2 to 3 million dollars and 8.06 million dollars’ worth of chocolate but exported between 1 billion and 2 billion dollars. In the case of rice since 2015, Ghana has been importing in excess of 1 billion dollars yearly more than the entire revenue from cocoa. Any policy that adds value to our raw materials must be welcomed. The manifesto was however not very clear on how it intends to increase the yield per hector. The manifesto raised interesting issues in trade and industry.  It promises to support made in Ghana goods to help grow indigenous industries and assist them to take full advantage of the AfCFTA market of one point two billion people and two point five Trillion dollars of GDP. The manifesto also promises stable and affordable power. For now, we have stable power, what the government must do is to make our power cheaper than those we will compete with on the AfCFTA to make products from Ghana competitive. Now most businesses complain about the noncompetitive cost of power.The manifesto also discusses the deepening automotive assembly industry. This will make brand new cars cheaper, reduce importation of cars, create employment and transfer technology to Ghanaians. No doubt it is a good policy and like any good policy, there will be some job losses of those who are into the business of salvaged vehicles, welders who work on those cars and the importers. Stakeholders must find ways of having discussions with them on how they could be assisted.

To a large extent, the 2020 manifesto of the NPP in the area of agriculture and industry intends to prevent poverty, hunger and ensure industry, innovation and infrastructure which are all goals of the Sustainable Development Goals. The NPP for the last lap of President Akufo-Addo’s first term in office has stated its vision. This weighed against that for his second term promises hope, progress and improvement in the standard of living of Ghanaians. We wish them all the best.

BY: YAW OHEMENG KYEI, PRESIDENT, COMMODITY BROKERS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA.