By: Heritage News online/Prince Yunus/2024
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday, August 24, launched its manifesto for the 2024 general elections, detailing a wide-ranging plan to reset Ghana’s economy, alleviate economic hardships, and promote good governance.
The party’s Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama, who spoke at the launch in Winneba, reiterated the party’s unwavering love for the muslims and zango communities, as he stated that, His government, from 2025, will see to the drastic reduction of the Hajj fare that is becoming an impediment for the muslims to honor their annual religious obligation to the holy land of Mecca to worship God.
Before 2016, Muslims were airlifted from Ghana to Mecca with just about 9000 to 12000 in extreme cases. However, the Advent of Nana Addo and Bawumiah has sky rocketed the price to 75000 cedi, making it nearly impossible for many of Ghanaian Muslims to honor such an important obligation.
The new Mahama NDC administration pledges to bring relief to the muslim community in Ghana by reviewing the price downwards.
Mr. Mahama also reiterated his commitment on adding the festive holidays of the muslims by making it todays respectively.
” We all know our muslim brothers and sisters do observe their Ramadan by citing the crescent and break it by doing same. often there has been discrepancies with regards to the celebration days. My government will see to the additional days for the celebration to enable them have space to enjoy their festive days without any hinderance” He asserted in hausa language.
Meanwhile, history has it that, the existing holidays being observed by Muslims in Ghana during eidl fitr and Adha, were honored by the Rawlings NDC regime. where, the then NPP minority allegedly kicked against on religious tribal grounds.
These historic notion has since left the NDC as the favorite party in most zango communities in the country until recently, where the NPP are able to make some incursion in various Muslim communities due to some contemporary change in political narratives.
Nonetheless, Mr. Mahama has also pledge to build a positive relationship with all communities in the country regardless of region, religion, tribe or race. He pledges to continue on the path of development , infrastructure and building the Ghana we all desire.
He also slammed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for its “abysmal performance,” citing high inflation, currency depreciation, and unemployment. Mr. Mahama promised to restore Ghana’s economy through measures such as a National Economic Dialogue, tax rationalization, and emergency measures to stabilize the Ghana cedi.
Among other things, below are a list of 26 things he has promised to carry out in his first 120 days.
1. Nominate within the first 14 days the complete list of Cabinet Ministers for parliamentary approval.
2. Constitute the LEANEST AND MOST EFFICIENT government under the fourth republic in my first 90 days in office.
3. Establish a robust CODE OF CONDUCT AND STANDARDS for all government officials.
4. Hold a National Economic Dialogue to discuss the true state of the economy and prepare a homegrown fiscal consolidation programme to guide the budget.
5. Within my first 90 days in office, scrap the following draconian taxes to alleviate hardships and ease the high cost of doing business: E-levy, COVID levy, 10% levy on bet winnings, and Emissions levy.
6. Within my first 90 days in office, review taxes and levies on vehicles and equipment imported into the country for industrial and agricultural purposes.
7. Commence drafting needed legal amendments and prepare for implementing the 24-Hour Economy Policy under the Office of the President.
8. Establish an Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC) to promote exports as part of a broader strategy for economic transformation.
9. Convene a national consultative conference on EDUCATION to build consensus on needed improvements to the sector.
10. Implement the ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions—universities, colleges of education, nursing training institutions, etc.).
11. Introduce the following social interventions: Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities, the Ghana Medical Care Trust (MahamaCares) Fund.
12. Commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools.
13. Institute inquiries and/or forensic audits into the following matters of public interest: The collapse of Indigenous Ghanaian banks and financial institutions at a supposed cost of GHS25 billion, illegal printing of money, the US$58 million National Cathedral scandal, illegal and inflated single- sourced contracts, COVID-19 expenditure scandal, PDS, Agyapa, SML, Ambulance spare parts deal, 13th African Games, Sky Train, Pwalugu Dam, Maths Sets, Galamsey Fraud, missing excavators and tricycles, Sputnik-V, BOST Scandal, and others…
14. Institute a government policy banning political appointees from purchasing state assets.
15. Allocate seed money for the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank.
16. Launch the following priority job creation programmes in the first budget: ‘Adwumawura’ Programme, ‘National Apprenticeship Programme’ and ‘One Million Coders Programme’.
17. Commence the review of the Customs (Amendment) Act 2020 to scrap the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles to rescue the local automotive industry at Suame Magazine, Kokompe, Abossey Okai, among others.
18. Lay before parliament a new bill to streamline government scholarship administration, prohibit political appointees from accessing government scholarships, and eliminate political patronage, cronyism, nepotism, and corruption in awarding government scholarships.
19. Ban illegal and new mining activities in forest reserves. Roll out our ‘Tree for Life’ and Blue Water Initiative’ to heal and sustainably harness the environment by turning areas and water bodies degraded by illegal mining into economic and ecological recovery hubs.
20. Launch ‘The Black Star Experience’ initiative as Ghana’s flagship Culture, Arts and Tourism brand to transform Ghana into a preferred tourism destination.
21. Commence investigative processes to purge state security agencies of all militia and vigilante elements.
22. Re-open investigations into major unresolved criminal cases including the 2020 election killings, Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale and Silas Wulochamey.
23. Initiate a probe into the man-made disaster caused by the VRA’s spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams that displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of citizens in the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra.
24. Initiate immediate steps to compensate the flood victims, including those in the Oti, Bono East and Savanna regions.
25. Carry out a shakeup of all loss-making SOEs and realign them to break even and transition into profit-making.