NPP's 2020 manifesto promises on corruption vague – Anti-graft campaigner

An anti-corruption campaigner at the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, has said it is unfortunate that the recently launched manifesto of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), fails to make a precise statement on the fight against graft.

Mrs Narteh, who is the Executive Secretary of GACC, said at a press event on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, that manifesto promises seem to have a mere façade in the run-up to elections because nobody holds politicians accountable to their promises after the general polls.

“In fact, I have done a quick look at the NPP manifesto and when I look at the section on corruption, I am not exactly sure what the NPP is promising Ghanaians in terms of fighting corruption. And that for me is a problem.

“We have to look critically at what the NPP is promising Ghanaians in terms of fighting corruption so that it doesn’t become mere rhetoric, it doesn’t become lip service, it doesn’t become a campaign promise…we are tired of playing with words. We are tired of not putting the frameworks in place; we are tired!” Mrs Narteh said.

Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh was speaking at the launch of the ‘Citizens’ Anti-Corruption Manifesto’ for the 2020 general elections and beyond in Accra.

The citizens’ manifesto is a project that seeks to inform strategic policy direction for the political parties before they are elected into office.

The citizens’ manifesto project that was launched on Wednesday is titled, “Making All Voices Count in the 2020 Anti-Corruption Agenda of Political Parties’ Manifestoes” and revealed, among other things that, citizens want legislative reforms to prioritise stronger sanctions against proceeds against criminal activity.

On the administrative fronts, citizens proposed that there should be an introduction of anti-corruption and integrity curricula in schools.

Speaking at the launch event, Mrs Narteh also said Ghanaians want action and responsive governance in the fight against deep-seated corruption.

“We want governance that is doing all it can to make Ghanaians feel better, live better…other African countries are doing it, why can’t we as Ghanaians have a similar feel?” she stressed.

Ghana’s performance on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is ranked among the poorest in recent times.

Ghana’s CPI score has been dropping since it achieved its highest score of 48/100 in 2014. The score dropped to 47/100 in 2015 and even further to 43/100 in 2016. The score for 2017 was 40/100 and in 2018 it increased by one per cent to 41/100. In the latest CPI (2019), Ghana’s score remained the same – 41/100.

Ghana's current ranking is lower than the average global score of 43/100.