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Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has launched its 2024 manifesto, promising to reset the country and ensure its optimal functioning.
The NDC joins the country’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the only two political parties to launch their manifestoes going into the 2024 general elections scheduled for Dec. 7.
Rallying Ghanaians under the theme “Resetting Ghana,” the NDC 2024 Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, has promised to implement robust policies, including the 24-hour economy policy, to drive growth and development across the country.
“We need a government that will galvanise the effort of all Ghanaians irrespective of ethnicity… We need a government that will allow all businesses to thrive, whether domestic or foreign, no matter the ethnic, religious, or partisan colours of its owners. This may be our last chance to get it right. It cannot be business as usual. Ghana is a nation in a hurry,” Mr Mahama said.
DUBAWA has highlighted the 2024 NDC Manifesto, which focuses on promises regarding health, education, job creation, and the economy.
Promises on job creation
If elected president in December 2024, the NDC 2024 Presidential candidate, John Mahama, promised to ease Ghana’s unemployment by creating millions of jobs.
See pages 27 to 30 of the NDC’s 2024 Manifesto for the party’s promises on job creation.
Mr Mahama has promised to implement the following programmes:
1. Implement the 24-hour Economy Policy
Mr Mahama has promised to roll out the 24-hour economy policy to encourage and support businesses and public organisations to operate 24/7 in three shifts of eight hours each to boost production, promote productivity, and generate well-paying jobs. The ex-Ghanaian leader has explained that the policy aims to transform Ghana into an import-substitution and export-led economy.
On how to implement the policy to ensure businesses participate in this programme, ex-President John Mahama has promised to provide:
a. An atmosphere of security through a public/private security architecture.
b. Cheaper and reliable electricity for participating businesses based on a Time-of-Use (ToU) tariff system.
c. Tax incentives for participating businesses to reduce their cost of operation and enhance their competitiveness.
d. Financing support through the Ghana Exim Bank for strategic agro-processing factories and manufacturing companies to boost production for import substitution and export.
e. Support for viable SMEs operating below capacity in priority value chains with catalytic investments to grow, generate jobs and propel growth.
2. Establish the Women’s Development Bank
The 2024 NDC flagbearer said he would establish a Women’s Development Bank as a special-purpose bank run by women. It will support women-owned and women-led businesses with low-interest loans and other tailored financial services on very flexible terms. This is aimed at economically empowering a minimum of one million Ghanaian women.
3. National Apprenticeship Programme
The National Apprenticeship Programme is a policy that generates self-employment by providing free technical and vocational training for young people in various crafts. Trained apprentices will be issued with appropriate certification and supported with start-up capital and equipment to set up businesses.
4. ‘Adwumawura’ Programme
The ‘Adwumawura’ Programme is a unique business start-up policy that aims to facilitate the creation, tracking, and mentoring of a minimum of 10,000 businesses annually, with a special focus on young people.
5. Digital Jobs Initiative
This will be a three-billion-dollar investment in partnership with the private sector to leverage ICT for the creation of jobs through the following programmes:
i. One Million Coders Programme:
One million young Ghanaians will be trained in digital skills such as coding, WebApp development, and software engineering, among others, for jobs in the digital ecosystem.
ii. Regional Digital Centres (modelled on the Accra Digital Centre) will be established to facilitate the expansion of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sectors for job creation.
iii. A $50 million FinTech Growth Fund will be established to promote the growth of digital entrepreneurs and support Indigenous FinTech companies.
Promises on the economy
While decrying the state of Ghana’s economy, the NDC 2024 flagbearer, John Mahama, said he would provide the needed incentives to businesses to drive industrialisation and growth of the economy. He has promised to do the following:
2. Enhance the role of the Ghana EXIM Bank in financing non-traditional exports.
3. Exempt new small businesses from paying corporate and personal income tax for the first two years after incorporation.
4. Provide tax breaks and low-cost financing for strategic start-ups and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
5. Implement a ‘MADE IN GHANA AGENDA’ to promote the production and consumption of made-in-Ghana goods, particularly by leveraging the government’s spending power.
6. Launch an “EXPORT GHANA POLICY” to expand the market of made-in-Ghana goods under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) regime and other external trade programmes.
7. Review the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1014) to scrap the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles to save the local automotive industries at Suame Magazine, Kokompe, Abossey Okai, among others, from collapse.
8. Leverage green technologies for entrepreneurship by promoting the assembly and use of electric vehicles and clean energy for commercial and residential use.
9. Reduce bureaucracies, promote transparency, simplify administrative and regulatory processes, and uphold the rule of law to create a friendly investment climate.
10. Promote technology-based businesses, such as app development, e-commerce platforms, Fintech and other digital services
See pages 31 to 38 of the NDC’s 2024 Manifesto for the party’s promises on job creation.
Promises on education
While promising to continue with President Nana Akufo-Addo’s free senior high secondary school (SHS) education policy, the NDC 2024 flagbearer, John Mahama, has promised to include private schools in the policy’s implementation.
See pages 39 to 42 of the NDC’s 2024 Manifesto for the party’s promises on job creation.
Also, Mr Mahama has promised to do the following:
1. Introduce the ‘Bright Beginnings Initiative’ to revive early childhood education for the well-being of Ghanaian children and facilitate seamless integration into continuous schooling and lifelong learning.
2. Launch a ‘Furniture for All Initiative’ in partnership with the local carpentry and furniture industry to address the acute deficit at the basic school level.
3. Significantly improve the pupil-to-textbook ratio through the comprehensive provision of curriculum-based textbooks.
4. Embark on an aggressive infrastructure drive to address the increasing phenomenon of schools under trees and rehabilitate dilapidated school buildings.
5. Improve the free SHS programme by providing a dedicated and sustainable funding source.
6. Decentralise food procurement for Senior High Schools to boost local economies.
7. Abolish the double-track system to restore a stable one-track academic calendar.
8. Embark on an emergency infrastructure drive to complete abandoned E-blocks and expand infrastructure in existing SHS and TVET institutions.
9. Continue our policy of providing free laptops/tablets for students.
10. Equip Science Resource Centres in all schools across the regions to support STEM/TVET education.
11. Review the Computerised School Selection & Placement System (CSSPS) to make it merit-based and address corruption.
12. Commence establishing regional TVET Centres of Excellence equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to promote innovation and simulate natural work environments.
13. Promote the recognition of the Prior Learning Certification/Step-Up Certification (SEC) programme to enable artisans in the informal sector to validate and improve their skills and knowledge for academic and career progression.
14. Implement a ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for first-year students in all public tertiary institutions, including Universities, Colleges of Education and Nursing Training Colleges.
15. Provide continuing students with financial assistance by reintroducing and redeploying our Student Loan Trust Fund Plus and a reformed scholarship regime.
16. Provide Free Tertiary Education to all persons with disabilities.
17. Provide allowances, student loans, scholarships and other funding options for teachers and nurses.
18. Improve subventions to public universities and ensure timely disbursements.
19. Promote the establishment of Tertiary Endowment Funds (TEF) in partnership with alumni, philanthropists and corporate Ghana, among others, to support students in public tertiary universities.
20. Implement a ‘Bed-for-All’ programme by building on-campus affordable student hostels and expanding accommodation facilities through Public-Private Partnerships with universities.
Promises on health:
The NDC 2024 Presidential candidate, John Mahama, has promised to complete the construction of the 111 hospitals President Nana Akufo-Addo has started under the “Agenda 111” policy.
See pages 43 to 45 of the NDC’s 2024 Manifesto for the party’s promises on job creation.
Also, Mr Mahama has promised to roll out the following programmes to improve the country’s health sector:
1. Uncap the National Health Insurance Levy and ensure the timely release of payments to service providers and additional funds to finance health care for Ghanaians.
2. Establish the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund (MAHAMACARES) to support the cost of health care for persons with chronic diseases such as kidney failure (dialysis), cancers, Sickle Cell disease, diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.
3. Implement FREE PRIMARY HEALTHCARE from the CHPS compound to the polyclinic level in the short to medium term.
4. Expand health infrastructure to restore the prompt employment and timely deployment of health workers.
5. Provide affordable accommodation within the premises of health facilities and offer home ownership schemes for health and other workers.
6. Introduce ‘Risk Exposure Insurance’ for health workers to provide financial protection and support in the event of injuries, illnesses or other risks encountered on the job.
7. Introduce a vehicle tax waiver scheme for health professionals under a well-regulated system.
8. Provide scholarship opportunities for nurses and Allied Health Workers to pursue PhD-level education.
9. Reward healthcare workers who accept posting to rural communities and underserved areas with a decent rural allowance of 20% of the basic salary and shorter service periods for promotion and study leave.
10. Introduce degree and specialist nursing programmes in nursing colleges to support career advancement and skills upgrade of nurses to meet global standards.
11. Mainstream research-backed herbal, traditional and alternative medicine and practice in patient management at all levels.
12. Support the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana with incentives to make Ghana a Pharma Hub in Africa.
13. Construct a state-of-the-art 500-bed Specialist Children’s Hospital and Fertility Centre in Accra.
14. Refurbish the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital as an additional ultra-modern quaternary specialist hospital to reduce medical care and training abroad.
15. Upgrade the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital) into a full Teaching Hospital and link it to the College of Physicians and Surgeons for specialist training.
16. Refurbish the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to meet the standards of an ultra-modern teaching Hospital.
17. Expand the Ho Teaching Hospital to provide comprehensive specialist services and establish a quaternary hospital in the Volta region to attract medical tourism.
18. Build a Specialist and Trauma Hospital in the Oti Region to respond to emergencies on the eastern corridor road.
19. Establish a modern dialysis centre in the Upper East region to serve the catchment area.
20. Build an ultra-modern hospital in Bawku, Yendi and other towns based on a needs assessment.
Conclusion
The NDC 2024 Presidential candidate, John Mahama, has asked Ghanaians to return him to the presidency to correct President Nana Akufo-Addo’s mismanagement of the economy. “We cannot continue this path! Lessons must be learned from the experience of these last almost eight years,” the ex-Ghanaian leader said.
