The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has launched its manifesto for the 2024 general elections.
The event saw in attendance the flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama,.his running mate, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, functional executive of the party, national leaders, the minority caucus, regional and constituency executives, parliamenatry candidates, and members of the party.
Flagbearer John Mahama outlined several initiatives he said would help restore and reset the broken economy.
He announced that on his first 120 days in office, he will organise a national dialogue on the economy, promised tax rationalisation, and emergency measures to stabilise the Ghana cedi.
He also promised to investigate the NPP’s “opaque gold-for-oil deal” and review the Gold Purchase Programme of the Bank of Ghana.
He pledged to appoint all his cabinet ministers within 15 days after he is sworn into office—not more than 60 ministers.
He said a new NDC government will support small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and artisans through various programs and incentives.
In the health sector, the NDC plans to uncap the National Health Insurance Levy, prioritise healthcare, and establish a Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund to support people with chronic diseases.
He also promises to expand health infrastructure, restore the automatic employment of health workers, and construct modern hospitals in underserved areas.
He further opined that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration has decimated Ghana’s democracy beyond recognition, destroying livelihoods and families.
“Most Ghanaians will agree that Nana Akufo-Addo is indeed the president Ghana never got. Indeed, I dare say, his much-touted economic whiz kid, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is also the economic messiah Ghana never got,” he said.
He asserted that the current NPP administration has been the “biggest political scam pulled on Ghanaians since our independence in 1957.
“They have destroyed livelihoods and families and pushed millions of our people below the poverty line. Your vote on December 7 will end the tyranny, the cronyism, the corruption, and the hardship and pave the way for the vision, experience, and trustworthiness that I, John Dramani Mahama, am going to restore to the Flagstaff House,” he said.
Meanwhile, the candidate said they have also developed a braille version of the manifesto for the visually impaired.
On the issue of the economy, he made the following pledges:
ECONOMIC POLICIES
- Implement a 24-hour economy strategy with three (3) shifts of eight (8) hours each to maximise productivity and
efficiency, transform Ghana into an import substitution and export-led economy, enhance access to public services,
and create more well-paying jobs for unemployed Ghanaians. - Stop the economic decline and restore stability and inclusive growth to the economy.
- We will also give opportunities for experienced banking hands who lost their jobs after the collapse of banks to secure their careers once more and move from the menial jobs they were forced into.
- We shall abolish the obnoxious e-levy and review the levy imposed on bet winnings. With improved revenues from the savings made from a reduced size of government, an anti-corruption fight, fast-tracked operationalisation of new oil and gas wells, increased investment in the mining sector, and a revamped cocoa sector, we can ease the heavy tax burden that has been placed on Ghanaian households and businesses.
- Actively attract viable and serious private sector investors to partner with the government to invest in productive sectors for job creation.
- We shall relocate some ministries out of the central business area to decongest the city of Accra.
- This will involve an emphasis on agriculture and agribusiness and will have a strong focus on making Ghanaians own their
micro-enterprises. - Lead a process to set a standardised limit for borrowing and ensure that Ghana never suffers such a deadly debt management programme that threatens to send elderly people holding government bonds to their early graves and wipe out the investments of the Ghanaian middle class.
- The next NDC administration will transform the economy, diversify our exports, and ensure value addition to create more jobs from January 2025.
- We will add value to our cocoa by increasing domestic processing, refining our gold before export, and pursuing the dream of an integrated bauxite and alumina industry.
- VALCO TOR and other strategic industries that can serve as extra pillars for our economy will be brought onstream.
- Building a modernized agricultural economy driven by technology and digitalisation and establishing agribusiness shall be one of the key anchors of our economic transformation plan.
- The new NDC government will introduce a new budget in April 2025 to support small and medium-scale businesses and adjust some taxes.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
