Manifestoes aren't meant for Ghanaians - Political analyst

A senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Joseph Kingsley Adjei, has said party manifestoes are a conduit for votes in Africa, and precisely Ghana.

In an interview closely monitored by Ghanasonline on Angel FM’s Anɔpa Bɔfoɔ with Captain Smart, the political analyst said “manifestoes are for the elites, countries where all or most of the citizens can read.

He said parties are supposed to consult before drafting their manifestoes, “but in Ghana, they don’t consult widely.”

He said a “public policy must satisfy responsiveness to the needs of the people and the adequacy of it.”

Most of the promises are things they use to lure people for votes but not for development.

“If you show videos of things [infrastructure] in the cities to show development, you haven’t done anything because, those things do not benefit those on the villages and that’s what make our development incomprehensive”, he noted.

Dr. Adjei further said inequality in the country is incessant because “we don’t know the cost of growing an economy.”

There are 3 tenets a good manifesto should meet which Dr. Adjei says should reduce inequality, people should get employment from it and it should reduce poverty.

He described as ambitious, most of the promises that are made in manifestoes.

“If the NPP had promised 10 big factories in all the then 10 regions, that would have been doable.

“1D1F, how many districts are in the country and how do we define a factory? Who are the people in there that are going to work there? 1V1D, how do we define a dam?”, he quizzed.