NDC scores 52.9% on 2012 manifesto
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been able to achieve 52.9 per cent of its 2012 manifesto promises, IMANI Ghana, a policy think tank, has stated.
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In a study by IMANI presented in Accra yesterday, the policy think tank said the NDC scored 60.64 per cent in energy for growth, achieved 100 per cent for fulfilling its promise to complete a gas infrastructure plan and 100 per cent for keeping its pledge to enact the Local Content and Participation Law.
However, the ruling party scored 40 per cent in the area of housing, which IMANI described as weak.
The report said although the NDC performed highly in urban housing, it failed to fulfil the promise to upgrade existing slums in the urban areas.
The aim of IMANI’s assessment is to evaluate the rate of execution of the programmes, policies and projects stated in the manifesto.
Presenting some aspects of the study on the performance of the NDC in thematic areas such as the economy, education, governance and the social sector in Accra yesterday, the Director of Technology and Social Media of IMANI, Mr Brain Dzansi, said: “We had different rates for each of our sub-themes and when we put all the data together into that scale, we scored 52.9 per cent.”
He said the 60.64 per cent score in energy for growth was a good performance, explaining that oil and gas was the highest performance under energy, while under power, it performed poorly, as well as abysmally in renewable energy.
“They also promised to complete the gas infrastructure plan and that was done and so they scored 100 per cent. They also promised to enact the Local Content and Participation Law which will help improve the local capacity of Ghanaians in oil and gas and that was done, so they scored 100 per cent,” he said.
Economic indices
The Resident Economist and Deputy Director, Economic Governance & Political Affairs, Mr Hubert Nii-Aponsah, who spoke on economic performance in the NDC’s four-year rule, said the overall score on the economy was 43.9 per cent.
Making a presentation on governance, the Director of Communications of IMANI Francophone, Mr Isidore Kportufe, said the government showed great resilience in achieving governance infrastructure, energy for growth, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), territorial integrity, public service delivery and transportation in its manifesto promises.
He said, for instance, that in governance infrastructure, territorial integrity and public service delivery, the NDC scored 90, 85 and 75 per cent, respectively.
On fighting corruption, narco-terrorism and the rule of law and justice, he said, the government performed abysmally, scoring 33.8, 15.7 and 8.3 per cent, respectively.
Corruption & narcotics
Mr Kportufe said the promise that the internal audit system was to be revamped to combat corruption was not achieved, citing a recent report by IMANI Ghana, which revealed that “Ghana lost about GH¢9 billion in three years”.
“So it tells you that our internal audit system has some challenges that have not been addressed and we expect the government to pay attention to the promise,” he said.
Referring to narcotics, Mr Kportufe said the 2015 International Narcotic Control Board report launched in Accra recently “indicated that Ghana is still used by drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine and some drugs to Europe”.
Women’s representation
He commended the Mahama-led administration for fulfilling its promise to improve women’s representation on public boards.
“Indeed, we have some appointments that have been made here under this government. Indeed, the government has made efforts to give women prominence in the public sector,” he said.
Health
On the establishment of new district hospitals and polyclinics throughout the country, he said even though construction works had not been completed, the projects were at various levels of completion.
On fighting malaria, Mr Kportufe said the NDC was able to implement the promise by recording a performance of 80 per cent, while in the expanded programme of immunisation, it was able to implement major aspects of the programme, which gave it 84 per cent.
Manifestoes
The Founder and President of IMANI, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, in his welcome address, said manifestoes were good tools to hold governments accountable.
He said the power of the government must rest on the citizens, stressing that “development should not be a complex idea”.
