President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has emphasized the need for political parties to have a manifesto stating that it is the “contract between the parties and the people of Ghana.“
According to President Akufo-Addo, political parties and their manifestos play significant roles in the development of countries.
He also mentioned that, while a long-term framework is important, he stressed that, the reality of a multi-party democratic state such as Ghana allows people to come with different commitments to the seat of government.
The president made this call when the National Development Planning Commission on Tuesday, July 16 2024, presented a new Long-term National Development Perspective Framework, dubbed VISION 2057 to him.
The document, according to Proffessor Gyan Baffour, Board Chairman of NDPC, outlines a comprehensive vision for the country’s development when Ghana attains 100 years since independence.
The Framework envisions Ghana as a prosperous, self-reliant environmental sustainability and is guided by the Black Star Rising: Long-Term National Development Plan commonly known as the 40-year Plan which was to be implemented from 2018-2057.
The NDPC claims that the preparation of this vision document was necessitated by the exigencies of current development challenges facing Ghana, as a result of the devastating impact of COVID-19, the geo-political uncertainties, and the macro-economic fallout and as a result, proposes a more general development of specific policies and programmes in their medium-term development plans.
Describing it as a non-prescriptive development blueprint that is broad based, aspirational and all-inclusive, they said, VISION 2057, integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development with the vision for a free, just, prosperous, and self-reliant nation, which secures the welfare and happiness of its citizens, while playing a leading role in international affairs” by 2057.
However, President Akufo-Addo believes that, allowing people come with different commitments to the seat of government is very important.
“Today we have a framework with certain targets which can guide all of us going forward, and which can guide us in the shaping of our manifesto whilst recognizing the importance of a manifesto, in the governance of a nation because that is the contract between the parties and the people of Ghana.“
“They are the products of social engagements. Not everybody would have thought that this Free SHS matter was a priority for the country. There are still people who question it. And if they were in office, perhaps that’s not what would have been the emphasis, but for me it was a priority and I said so to the people of Ghana before I came here, he stressed.
