The pledge by the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama, to accept the outcome of the December polls and the research institute’s report that the 2020 manifestoes of the two major political parties lack extensive consultation in gathering relevant needs of citizens are some of the leading stories in Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama, yesterday celebrated his 62nd birthday in Tamale, at which he expressed his readiness to accept the outcome of the December polls.
“I wish all Ghanaians the best and I feel blessed to be alive and in very good health at 62. I wish that everybody had a healthy and long life as we look forward to peaceful elections. The will of God should prevail in whoever He decides on to lead this nation for the next four years. He should let the person prevail in the election,” he said.
The former President, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming December 7 elections, after losing the Presidency to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2016, also wished the electorate peaceful polls.
Former President Mahama was speaking at the Children’s Ward of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) where he had cut a birthday cake and interacted with patients and staff as part of activities marking his 62nd birthday.
Mr Mahama, accompanied by his wife, Mrs Lordina Mahama, also visited the Nyohini Children’s Home in the Tamale metropolis, where he donated bags of rice and groceries to support the upkeep of the children.
He explained that the rationale behind his decision to donate to the home was to share the joy of his birthday with the beneficiaries.
The newspaper says that a report by the Africa Development and Resources Research Institute (ADRRI) has established that the 2020 manifestoes of the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress, lack extensive consultation in gathering relevant needs of citizens.
The report established that both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made some engagement with certain professional bodies in putting together their manifestoes, however, they could not cover average percentage of Ghanaians.
Presenting the report at the Koforidua Technical University, the Executive Director of ADRRI, Dr. Jamal Mohammed, revealed that the result indicated that though consultation was woefully inadequate, the NDC consulted more Ghanaians than the NPP with percentage score of 39 and 13 respectively.
The report also established that 45 percent of Ghanaians believed that the NDC had “not consulted” and 16 percent said they were “uncertain”, whereas 77 percent and 11 percent said the NPP had “not consulted” and “uncertain” of any consultation respectively.
Speaking to journalist in an interview, Dr. Mohammed urged political parties to be broader in their consultations to make sure that the necessities of various districts and communities were captured in their manifestoes for inclusive governance and to promote development.
The Graphic also reports that Ghana and France have renewed their commitment to strengthen performance in key public institutions to ensure sustainable growth, job creation and efficient public sector performance in the two countries.
The partnership will also enable the two countries to share knowledge and experience aimed at improving the fortunes of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
In a statement jointly issued by the Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng, and the Ambassador of France to Ghana, Ms. Anne-Sophie Avé, said: “This partnership is in line with the common views shared on the importance of effective governance for economic efficiency of SOEs in the two countries.
“The success of this collaboration which was launched in 2016 between the French Embassy and the State-Owned Enterprise Commission of Ghana led to the French Development Agency (AFD) of France to offer a €5 million grant to SIGA to improve expertise to further strengthen the operationalisation of the oversight functions of the authority and also work closely with the Ministry of Finance and Expertise France — a French international technical cooperation agency.
“We are thrilled to cooperate in this area as it is strategic for our countries to ensure sustainable growth, job creation and efficient public performance,” the statement added.
The Times says that the minority parties contesting this year’s election have indicated their readiness to end the 28-year-old duopoly of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) in governance.
In separate interviews with the Ghanaian Times, they outlined the strategies they would deploy to solve the country’s socio-economic challenges and elevate her to a pedestal deserving of a 63-year-old country, if elected on December 7, 2020.
The parties are the Convention People Party (CPP), the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Progressive People Party (PPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and the Ghana Union Movement (GUM).
Others in the December 7 race are the All People Congress (APC), People’s National Convention (PNC), and Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) as well as Mr Asiedu Walker, an independent candidate.
Bernard Benghan reports that PPP’s Vice Presidential Candidate, Mr. Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, has predicted the December 7 presidential elections would witness a second round with the party as one of the two contenders because Ghanaians would vote massively for PPP.
He said the citizenry believed in the party’s commitment to implement the Right to Information Law, to bring transparency and accountability, fight corruption and review parts of the constitution to end the winner takes-all governance.
GIK/APA