The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has revealed a new report that has indicated that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government has failed to achieve most of its manifesto promises with regards to quality Governance, Financial Transparency and Accountability.
The report, which was on the NPP 2016 manifesto promises noted that the party promised to amend some laws guarding the Metropolitan, Municipal, District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure good and quality governance at the local level, however, it has failed to do same.
This was revealed at the launch of GACC 2019 report on government’s manifesto promises and achievements under an Oxfam funded project. It was themed “Citizens Action for Public Accountability and Pro-Poor Spending” to create public awareness and demand accountability.
According to Samuel Harrison-Cudjoe, a Research Officer at GACC, though some of the promises made by the ruling party in their manifesto have been delivered, majority are either in the pipe line or not touched at all.
He said, the NPP Government in their manifesto sought to shift national policy from taxation to production to reduce taxes, however, it has failed in that aspect, rather, it has introduced numerous taxes to the disappointment of citizens.
“The ruling New Patriotic Party NPP, whilst in opposition, made several promises in its 2016 Manifesto and also sought to shift its economic policy from taxation to production,” She noted.
He outlined other failed promises such as the election of MMDCEs which was cancelled, fighting corruption which has been unsatisfactory, among others, stating that “it is clear that some of the promises have been executed, the most prominent ones being the establishment of the Office of Special Prosecutor (SPO)”.
The Executive Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Coalition, Beauty Emefa Narteh, also remarked that the coalition would continue with such exercises by holding government accountable on its promises before ending their term in office.
She said it behooves on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and citizens to hold politicians and political parties accountable and remind them on the promises they made during the campaign season.
“We are hopeful that the ruling government will accept the full Report when it is published in good faith and work towards achieving them as they forge ahead of the 2020 elections,” she stated.
It was noted that the final report will be published soon on the GACC’s website to ascertain the performance of the Government on its fulfilled manifesto promises with regards to Financial Transparency and Accountability.
The Anti-Corruption Coalition urged citizens to hold the government accountable on their manifesto promises. They also made a commitment to monitor and access the government’s projects in order to ensure judicious use of public resources.
Source: Eric Nii Sackey || erysaco93@yahoo.com