IEA 2016 Presidential Town Hall. . . Candidates call for national identification system
All three presidential candidates who squared it off at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) presidential debate dubbed “2016 Presidential Town Hall” underscored the importance of a working national identification system for the country.
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They agreed that a national identification system was needed to provide a database on all citizens to help in planning purposes for accelerated national growth.
Last Tuesday’s IEA Town Hall was initially billed to feature the presidential candidates of three political parties, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), as well as the only independent candidate contesting the December 7 election, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, popularly referred to as JOY.
However, at the start of the debate which was on the theme; “Reinforcing the Pillars of Ghana’s Democracy”, only three candidates were present, with the CPP candidate conspicuously missing with no reason.
Also absent were the two candidates contesting the presidency on the tickets of the two major political parties - the incumbent candidate President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the flag bearer of the largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The two candidates were part of the debate in 2012, but earlier this year, while the NDC had indicated that they would not participate in this year’s event, the NPP was expected to do so. Interestingly, although the NDC had made its intention known to the IEA, the ruling party had on several campaign platforms dared the NPP to a debate contest which the latter had declined.
The only female candidate in this year’s election contesting on the ticket of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, was also not part of the presidential debate even though she took part in an evening encounter organised by the IEA.
The atmosphere in the hall of the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, where the event took place, had an uncertain quietude when the debate took off at approximately 7p.m., and only got warm midway when the candidates started making some amusing comments such as “I cant think far.”
National Identification
Answering a question posed by Lawyer and Journalist Samson Lardy Ayenini, who was the moderator for the event, on how they would ensure fiscal discipline, if given the nod, Mr Edward Nasigre Mahama of the PNC said one of the ways would be to reduce taxes and spread the tax net to cover more Ghanaians with the aid of a national database.
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom also stated that he would put in place a National Identification System that would have a unique number for every Ghanaian, stating that Ghana was practising “lazy man’s approach to taxes”, by heavily taxing only few people.
“A national identification system can rope in more people to tax and lower the burden on the few taxpayers by about 50 per cent,” he stated.
Mr Yeboah, for his part, said he would establish a national electronic data infrastructure to aid in the expansion of the tax net to include both the informal and traditional sectors.
“The National Identification Authority (NIA) setup lacks certain things that can help the government in planning purposes. Most governments are afraid of the exposure that a national identification setup will give us,” he said.
Interest rates
On how they would reduce interest rates that are at an all-time high of 33 per cent, Dr Nduom said he would tie the pension law to long-time savings, while Dr Mahama indicated that heavy government borrowing was the cause because productivity was low.
He said if the government cut down on corruption ranging from about 30 to 40 per cent, Ghana would get all the money it was currently borrowing from the Bretton Woods institutions.
Employment
Touching on how he would reduce the current high youth unemployment rate, Dr Mahama said his three topmost actions would include facilitating two to three farming seasons and ensuring value addition to crops produced.
Dr Nduom listed the provision of a ready market for what was produced on farms, the government purchasing agricultural produce through its agencies and influencing a positive attitude for entrepreneurship as the steps he would take.
“If we do that, in four years we will be able to create more than one million jobs,” he said.
Mr Yeboah stated that he would merge the ministries of education and industry. He made another reference to a national electronic data infrastructure as holding the trump card and added that he would re-orient students with unemployable skills within the agriculture sector.
Energy
On the pragmatic steps that would be taken to provide sustainable power for economic growth, Dr Mahama said he would ensure a proper energy mix and provide tax credits for households to install solar panels.
He indicated that he would also, in the short term, make sure there were adequate funds for fuel and also negotiate with Burkina Faso which had dammed part of the Volta River, so that Ghana would rather produce hydro power and supply to them.
Dr Nduom said the problem of the power sector was due to political interference in the energy sector, unrealistic expectations, as well as a leadership problem that had led to the mismanagement of the energy sector.
He urged the government to pay its debts owed the sector, adding that in four years, solar energy must constitute 10 per cent of the country’s energy supply.
For Mr Yeboah, however, to conserve energy and ensure efficiency, residential tariffs must be higher than industrial or commercial tariffs to encourage energy conservation.
He said if given the nod, he would ensure that Ghana moved from the use of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) to light emitting diodes (LEDs) to save energy and also introduce biogas to solve the country’s sanitation problem while generating power.
Significance of event
In her welcome address, the Executive Director of the IEA, Mrs Jean Mensah, said the debate series which started in 2000 were designed to afford candidates the opportunity to answer questions from the electorate and also produce an informed electorate.
“We are mindful of the need to reinforce the foundation of our democracy with transparency, accountability, participation and responsiveness,” she said.
The Chairperson of the debate team, Prof. Justice Akua Kuenyehia, stated that “Political engagement that informs citizens and enables them to hold candidates accountable is very essential.”
She said although the event was strictly by invitation, representatives of the youth, people living with disability, the media, development partners and the business community were all invited.