NPP spells-out measures to consolidate achievements

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has spelt-out strategic measures to consolidate the achievement of the government over the past four years and the way forward in amalgamating the gains in the next government from January 7th 2021.

The NPP Election 2020 Manifesto titled: “Leadership of Service: Protecting our Progress, Transforming Ghana for All,” the ruling party said before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had made significant progress towards building a Ghana Beyond Aid.

“We delivered and continued delivering quality results across all sectors, which have enabled us to blunt largely the severest impact of the pandemic,” the NPP stated.

The NPP said its plans over the next four years if it wins the December 7th Presidential Election is to build on what “we have achieved together.

“Incorporating the lessons learnt from the pandemic, we will consolidate the progress we have made on all our flagship policies, programmes, and initiatives across the various sectors”.

It said the next NPP Government under President Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President would be to continue “to improve on the over two million public and private sector formal jobs we have created and support the informal sector to formalise and create more better-paying jobs”.

“We will continue with restoring and maintaining macroeconomic stability, rebuilding the agricultural sector through the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), stimulating industrial growth through One District One Factory (1D1F), and filling our physical infrastructure gap with roads and bridges.

“We will continue transforming the delivery of government services through digitisation; curbing bribery and corruption through greater transparency in a digitised environment; and stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation”.

The next NPP government would continue to invest in building human capital through education; strengthening the NHIS and reducing unequal access to health as well as expanding the reach of social intervention and safety nets, and building a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Ghana.

In tandem with these, the next NPP government intends to create a much greater scope for the participation of the private sector in the delivery of these public services, as a proof of effectiveness which the current government have demonstrated in many digitisation initiatives.

The NPP Election 2020 Manifesto also focus on the context of the overall vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, with specific attention on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As a general SDGs principles, the NPP has identified the key lessons learnt from managing the pandemic, and the tapping of the Private Sector for the delivery of public services, “we will, over the next four years, work on delivering the key outcomes”.

The next NPP government has tagged the economy as the number one priority which would be used to stimulate growth, development, and investment in the real sectors of the economy, particularly in agriculture, industrialisation, and digitisation by ensuring macro-fiscal stability and engendering the economic transformation of the country.

Consistent with the NPP vision of building a Ghana Beyond Aid, “we will leverage the growing formalisation of the economy to deepen and widen our ability to mobilise domestic revenues by continuing to broaden the tax base, simplifying the filing of taxes, and improving collection regimes”.

On industrialisation, the next NPP government will support Made-in-Ghana products, including supporting the use of local raw materials; continue to ensure stable and affordable power for industrial development and promote the manufacturing of digital devices locally.

The next NPP government would continue to work with the private sector to establish more Special Economic Zones for manufacturing and support them with “last-mile” infrastructure services as well as finalise the establishment of the bauxite refinery to complete the aluminium value chain.

“We will complete the establishment of an iron and steel industry through the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC); continue with the process of providing gas infrastructure to bauxite refinery sites; deepen and expand 1D1F in diversity and national coverage.

“We will continue to process more cocoa and shea-butter locally; deepen the Automotive Assembly industry; produce at least half of Ghana’s sugar needs locally within the next four years, and promote the local production of pharmaceuticals.

“We will complete the process of establishing a fertilizer producing plant in Ghana, and for light manufacturing, renew the emphasis on component assembly, not just for automobiles, but for home appliances, including electric fans, refrigerators, and airconditioners to meet our growing domestic demand.