Ahead of Ghana’s December 7 general elections, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched their manifesto on Sunday, 18th of August 2024, at the Ghana Secondary and Technical School (GSTS) in Takoradi, Western Region.

The manifesto, …"> African Elections | #AEPManifestoWatch: Key Takeaways from NPP’s “Bold Solutions” Manifesto 2024

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#AEPManifestoWatch: Key Takeaways from NPP’s “Bold Solutions” Manifesto 2024

Ahead of Ghana’s December 7 general elections, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched their manifesto on Sunday, 18th of August 2024, at the Ghana Secondary and Technical School (GSTS) in Takoradi, Western Region.

The manifesto, dubbed “Selfless Leadership, Bold Solutions for Jobs and Business”, was graced by the Party’s leadership and rank and file, all-clad in outfits that drenched the “oil city” in red, white and blue.

In their manifesto, the party highlighted their commitment to fostering economic expansion, enhancing digital infrastructure, improving public services, and promoting social equity.

Here are some key takeaways from the 260-page policy document:

  • Economic Growth and Job Creation

- The NPP has promised to achieve and sustain 6% growth in Ghana’s economy by expanding key sectors such as Agriculture, Mining, Sports and Tourism, Arts, and emerging industries.

- They will also enhance the delivery of public infrastructure projects through increased Public-Private-Partnerships.

- The Party has pledged to create jobs for the youth through infrastructure development; industrialization; the National Cybersecurity Workforce Development Programme; and the introduction of an SME Bank to support small and medium enterprises.

- Other initiatives include setting quotas for the recruitment of persons with disability, and a Tax Amnesty Programme for businesses.

  • Reducing the Cost of Living

- The NPP is promising citizens food security by stabilizing the prices of locally produced foods through financing and guarantees from a proposed new bank - Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the new initiative - Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agriculture Lending (GIRSAL). The initiative will improve the quality of production and preservation of staple foods, meat, poultry and fish products.

- Additionally, the party pledged to reduce the cost of public transportation by promoting and supporting Electric Vehicles (EV) for public transportation; expanding the Gold-For-Oil Programme (G4O) to stabilize fuel prices; stabilizing the prices of spare parts through the “Flat Rate for all importers” policy and expanding drivers’ licenses to 10 years, making it renewable every 5 years.

- Finally, policies on accommodation, available and affordable power and accessibility of public and private organizations through the Ghana card will be implemented to meet citizens’ needs.

  • Providing Better Healthcare for All

- Under healthcare, the Party aims to complete all Agenda 111 hospitals by ensuring that every district gets a district hospital. More healthcare professionals will be recruited with improved conditions of service.

- Healthcare services will also be digitalized, starting with making National Electronic Pharmacy platform (NEPP) interoperable with public and private healthcare facilities; completing the digitization of public healthcare institutions under the E-health project; scaling up telehealth services and establishing two additional sites in Funsi and Kintampo in addition to the existing 6, to enhance drone delivery services and to ensure total nationwide coverage.

- Finally, each healthcare worker will be offered incentives to purchase one vehicle with an engine capacity of up to 1,800cc, while ensuring compliance with the existing deprived area incentive package for health workers.

  • Implementing Wide-Ranging Tax Reforms

- The NPP plans to implement tax reforms including the introduction of a one-time tax amnesty for all, a flat rate tax system in Ghana as it is done in Estonia and reduce Withholding Tax (WHT) for small-scale gold exports to 1% to discourage smuggling.

- The party also promises to abolish the tax on betting, digitize all aspects of tax administration to reduce leakages, improve efficiency and ease filing, as well as, harmonize port charges to align with charges in competing regional ports, particularly Togo.

  • Expanding Educational Opportunities for All

The NPP seeks to improve and expand education by implementing the following:

- Introduce a Free Tertiary Education Scholarship for PWDs.

- Address housing deficit in public universities by increasing student accommodation.

- Establish an Open University

- Exempt students who secure jobs immediately after tertiary education from taking part in the National Service program.

- Protect and enhance the free SHS/TVET policies.

  • Expanding Public Infrastructure Through Partnerships

- If elected, the NPP plans to commence the development of the Cape Coast Airport for which funding has been secured under the Korean $2billion facility. The Government will also partner the private sector to build an airport in the Upper East Region in their next administration.

- There are also plans to develop a railway network across the country with strategic focus on the Western and Eastern line in the medium term through private partnerships.

- The Party pledges to partner the private sector to finance, build, and rent or lease-to-own public infrastructure, including schools, housing, water, roads, and equipment.

- The Party will ensure full implementation and expansion of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), under which local governments have been supplied with equipment, to help maintain roads in their District.

  • Implementing Affirmative Action for Women and Girls

The NPP has promised to fully implement the Affirmative Action Act, through the establishment of a Women’s Trade Empowerment Fund (WoTEF) to support women-owned businesses. Women’s rights in workplaces will be promoted and protected through the enforcement of laws on sexual harassment, enforcing existing regulations on maternity leave, governance and establishing daycare centers near workplaces, including marketplaces, in order for mothers to seamlessly re-enter the workforce.

  • Boosting Sports, Creative Arts and Tourism

- The Party aims to establish a Sports Development Fund to develop sports infrastructure, talent, and grassroots sports programmes, including the revival of Colts football and leagues across the country.

- They also intend to continue the construction of artificial turfs (astroturfs) for every constituency to boost the development of talents including juvenile football.

- Tax incentives, including a flat tax, will be used to incentivize private sector investments in sports, tourism, and creative arts facilities.

- Through partnership with the private sector, the NPP intends to establish a streaming and digital management platform for Ghanaian content creators. A Travel Protocol Service (TPS) will also be established for the creative community, to enable artistes, performers, and other creatives, to honor international performances and shows.

  • Providing Good Governance

- The number of ministers will be capped at 50 under a Bawumia-led NPP government.

- The Party also plans to implement the election of MMDCEs through universal adult suffrage to enhance decentralization.

- Parliament and other stakeholders will be engaged to review the 1992 constitution

Conclusion

The NPP’s 2024 manifesto highlighted strategies intended to be applied in implementing policies towards economic growth, job creation, good governance, education, cost of living, among others. Just as we wrote in the NDC’s youth manifesto article, the issues and challenges in bringing this policy document to life in the next 4 years remain the same – Ghana finds itself in a fiscal hole. Even though the vice president and his party claim their plan will save the country some $1.9bn, their planned grandiose spending like construction of airports and other capital expenditures raises the question of whether those savings will be enough to help deliver their plan.


Download the full NPP manifesto at the end of this article.

This article is part of Penplusbytes' informational series ahead of Ghana's 2024 General Elections, implemented as part of our Voters' Compass project, under the African Elections Project. This is being done in partnership with VoteSwiper and supported with German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), zivik Funding Programme.

Follow the 2024 General Elections on our Facebook Twitter and Instagram pages on @Ghanaelections

Article Source:
Africanelections.org