In Ghana, there are two major political parties in which Ghanaians are interested and eager to know who can lead them to better their lives even though there are other political parties. Recently, the two major political parties released what they will do for Ghanaians when voted for but it seems a particular manifesto of one political party is being appropriated by another political party.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) whetted the appetite of Ghanaians with their promises and that has caused the incumbent government to fulfil some promises made in the People’s manifesto of the NDC.
The promises of both political parties are known to all Ghanaians. STRANEK-Africa has come to realise some promises made by one major political party are being appropriated by another political party.
The scrapping of the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles is captured in the People’s manifesto but the ruling political party has appropriated it. According to the People’s Manifesto, the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1014) will be reviewed in order to scrap the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles.
The reason the People’s Manifesto gives is, it will save the local automotive industry, especially Suame Magazine and Abossey Okai from collapse. On 17th September, 2020, government through the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) said, the government has decided to suspend the implementation of the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles and those older than 10 years into Ghana.
The Customs Amendment Act, 2020 which was passed by Parliament in March 2020 was supposed to take effect on November 1, 2020 but government decided to suspend it due to how vehicle importers welcomed the promise in the People’s Manifesto.
The reversal of Compulsory Teachers Licensure Examination as well as National Service for teachers stated in the People’s Manifesto is also a promise appropriated by government. Even though the Public Relations Officer of the National Teaching Council, Dennis Osei-Owusu has said the exam was postponed to the 1st and 2nd October due to changes in the timetable of continuing students of Colleges of Education, it might be possible that the political pressure from the People’s Manifesto is another factor to the suspension.
Abolishing the double-track system in the next NDC government per the People’s manifesto has caused the New Patriotic Party government to assure Ghanaians of plans to abolish the double-track system at the Senior High School level. On 11th September, 2020, the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Pre-tertiary Education, Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum indicated the government has put in place prudent and strategic measures to abolish the double track system in the next four years by investing in infrastructure in the affected schools.
In the People’s manifesto, it was posited that in their next government, the use of commercial motorcycles known as Okada as well as tricycles will be legalised and the industry will be regulated to make it safer by training the riders and ensuring the riders observe necessary safety precautions including mandating them to provide helmets for their passengers. On 9th September, 2020, the Transport Minister, Kwasi Ofori Asiamah indicated the New Patriotic Party government has begun stakeholder consultation to decide on whether to review the law banning the commercial use of motorcycles or implement it. On 16th September, 2020, the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana,
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, announced that the Akufo-Addo government will not legalize “Okada” business but will provide a better alternative for the Okada riders. The better alternative according to the Vice President of Ghana is to give the riders an opportunity to lease vehicles and pay over time. The fact that the issue of legalisation of “Okada” has become a matter of discussion and has caused the incumbent government to think on its feet in order to mitigate the rate at which the appetite of the good people of Ghana has been whetted by providing a better alternative, is akin to appropriation of a promise stated in the People’s Manifesto.
The People’s Manifesto says within one year in their tenure of office of the NDC, holders of zero-coupon bonds issued over five years will be paid cash. Government appropriated the promise hence a notice was made that all customers of the collapsed micro finance, savings and loans companies will effective Wednesday, September 16, 2020 receive cash instead of the earlier promised government backed bonds. This followed the decision to convert all the government backed non-interest bearing commercial paper into cash at no discount in respect of the payments to affected depositors of the collapsed companies.
The promise to establish a specially tailored pension scheme for the informal sector and incorporate a provision for unemployment benefits for workers such as farmers, drivers, fishermen, traders, market women and artisans has been guaranteed in the People’s manifesto. On September 26, 2020, the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia revealed at a meeting of players in the cocoa industry in Accra to mark the 20th anniversary ceremony of Olam Ghana Cocoa, an agro-commodity company, government is considering instituting a pension scheme for ageing cocoa farmers. He moreover said government is working with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to introduce pension scheme for cocoa farmers and that work is far advanced since they are
expecting another round of presentation by the NPRA before it is submitted to Cabinet for approval. This can also be seen as an appropriation of a promise stated in the People’s Manifesto.
The plan of the next NDC government when given the nod, is to enact unemployment benefit and intervention Act to cater for workers during times of acute economic disruptions. On September 16, 2020, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah revealed at a press briefing in Accra, that government has instituted a Tripartite Technical Committee that will come out soon with modalities for implementing the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme. He furthermore said, the scheme when operational will focus on providing direct income support to workers who will lose their jobs or suffer pay cuts in the event of a social or economic crisis. Can this also be an appropriation captured in the People’s manifesto?
What is the rush by the government that the promises which were not mentioned in their manifesto, is now being fulfilled? This is a real challenge to the biggest opposition party. It is up to Ghanaians to take the bull by the horn and decide whom they will cast their vote for.
We are all involved in building our nation.
Signed.
Nii Tettey Tetteh
Executive Director
+233 559 042 914
Emmanuel Osei
Director of Policy and Political Affairs
+47 412 45 303
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