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Five parties to adopt  ACEP’s study into manifestos
Dr Ishmael Ackah, Head of Policy, ACEP (right) presenting the new study to Mr Koku Anyidoho (2nd left) the Deputy General-Secretary of the NDC

Five parties to adopt ACEP’s study into manifestos

Five political parties in the country have pledged to integrate the “Citizens’ Energy Manifesto 2016” into their manifestos because it provides the framework to help develop the country’s energy sector.

They are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

The pledge was made separately when the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) presented the findings of a new study to the top hierarchy of the mentioned political parties in Accra.

The study, which was conducted by ACEP, is aimed at holding the government accountable, informing and educating citizens of alternative policies for the petroleum and energy sector.

The “Citizens’ Energy Manifesto 2016,” which is also called the "Citizens Agenda for Energy Sector Development," provides a platform for using democratic elections as an instrument for generating policy reforms, building political consensus on policies and holding elected officials accountable for their promises.

Parties pledge 

The Deputy General-Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Koku Anyidoho, said the party was not only willing but also prepared to ensure that its manifesto focused on the energy sector development.

He indicated that since the NDC took over, efforts had been made to ensure that challenges within the power and the energy sector were being addressed. 

The acting National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Freddie Blay, said one of the major goals of the party was to implement policies that would address challenges in the energy sector.

“Although crude is getting cheaper on the international market, and Ghana is even importing power at a cheaper rate from Cote d’Ivoire, we are still paying more for power,” he said.

He lauded the new study, saying “this is an initiative that would help develop the country’s power and energy sector.”

The National Chairman of the CPP, Mr Edmund Delle, mentioned that Ghanaians were currently crying for energy improvement and, therefore, the sector required robust policies to revive it.

According to him, the CPP would inculcate the findings in its manifesto. 

Investing the oil resources 

The National Chairman of the PNC, Mr Bernard Monah, said the party had a strong policy on where the country needed to invest the oil resources.

“We all know that oil is an exhaustible resource and can be easily depleted, but it also has ramifications after it has been extracted and so we need to invest in other portfolios such that succeeding generations will remember that we had oil and it had been utilised for the development of the country,” he noted.  

The National Chairman of the PPP, Mr Nii Alottey Brew Hammond, also said the leadership of the party believed that one of the ways of transforming the economy of Ghana was to build a strong energy sector.

"We have also commissioned a technical committee to conduct a study into the energy challenges in the country, so we believe this study come at an opportune time,” he said.

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