New platform to monitor energy sector manifesto
As part of efforts to make the 2016 elections issue-based, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has launched a platform that would enable citizens to access the manifesto of the various political parties, analyse it and make informed decisions on them.
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The platform is also to serve as an accountability instrument to track and monitor the manifesto implementation of the elected party after elections.
The document, known as the Citizens’ Energy Manifesto Monitor, comprises all the promises made by three of the political parties contesting this year’s elections with respect to the oil, gas and power sectors.
The Executive Director of ACEP, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said that the monitor, which would help in tracking the energy manifestos of the various political parties, sought to help better inform the electorate.
“The new booklet, the Citizens Energy Manifesto Monitor benchmarks the energy sector promises of the political parties against the Citizens’ Energy Manifesto. This is part of the monitoring process to ensure that the inputs of citizens are part of the energy development agenda and contribute to making the elections issue based,” he said.
The Citizens Energy Manifesto Monitor, he also explained, provides a one-stop shop platform for the electorates to compare and appreciate the energy sector promises, programmes and policies of the political parties to ensure informed choices in the December elections.
Citizens’ Energy Manifesto
ACEP, earlier this year, provided the platform for citizens to make inputs into the manifestos of various political parties.
Dr Amin said an online portal was created for citizens to fill the questionnaire on the manifestos explaining that “three regional forums were held, questionnaires and interview questionnaires were administered physically across the country and radio and TV sessions were held to collate citizens’ views.”
“These views were analysed and put together in a book, Citizens Energy Manifesto and presented to the NDC, the NPP, the CPP, the PPP and the PNC before they launched their manifestos,” he said.
The Head of Policy at ACEP, Dr Ishmael Ackah, said the manifestos that were launched to a large extent reflected the views expressed in the Citizens Energy Manifesto.
Oil, gas and power sector promises
Analyses done by ACEP on the various manifestos showed that the three political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) made 28 policy promises in the oil and gas sector.
All the three parties, however, have six common positions on broad policies in the sector. The NDC and NPP have two common policies and programmes, the NDC and CPP have one while the NPP and CPP have three policies and programmes in common.
All the parties, for instance, reiterated their commitment to promote transparency in oil and gas resource management, ensuring transparency and reporting in managing public funds, including oil revenues as well as prudent public financial management.
On the issue of local content in the oil and gas sector, all parties in their manifestos promised to increase local participation and value addition in the sector, strengthen and transfer technology, skills and capacity development as well as develop petrochemical industries from oil and gas.
The analyses, which were done as part of its Citizens’ Energy Manifesto Campaign, showed that the various parties also made a total of 27 manifesto promises in the power sector.