Political party manifestos must fit national agenda – Dr Henry Godson-Afful

Ghana’s quest to attain its development goals will continue to face a setback until political parties design their manifestoes to fit the country’s national development agenda.

According to a United Kingdom-based Ghanaian preacher, Reverend Dr Henry Godson-Afful, political parties’ decision to run Ghana’s economy with their individual manifestoes has led to many abandoned projects and stifled development in certain critical sectors.

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“It is time for political parties to do away with their manifestoes or better still design it to fit the country’s development agenda so that Ghana can have a focused target for national growth,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.

Rev. Afful, who is also an educational consultant, said in developed nations such as Singapore, where the country had witnessed tremendous advancement, “there is a national agenda that any government in power follows”.

“You cannot just climb to power and decide to toe a certain line which would contravene national agenda. It will never happen,” he said.

He added that the political manifestoes, although not a bad idea, “unfortunately do not fit into what the country needs. Different political parties would have different agenda which usually does not enforce the country’s national development plan. If parties can all work their way to development using one plan designed by the nation, development will never be far from us,” he said.

Emulate from developed states

In developing states such as Ghana, Rev. Afful explained, countries ought to have a single vision where every single agenda for development or economic growth must fit into.

“When there is a national agenda,” he said, it would be easier for the country to prioritise its needs and identify specific plans aimed at achieving them.

“Critical sectors, including energy, transportation, education and health, will be well coordinated in such a way that development will be seen in those areas,” he said.

Rev. Afful said once there was a national development agenda, no political party would have the permission or endorsement to abandon projects set by the other party.

Most of the abandoned projects, he said, were not as a result of lack of resources to complete them but a refusal or disinterest to continue because “it does not align to the ruling party’s manifesto”.

Rev. Afful added that for Ghana to attain its development goals, the country needed a strong national development plan which would have short-term and long-term goals that political parties would fit their agenda into.