Are Ghanaians really interested in political manifestoes?
During each election year, political parties are supposed to make their manifestoes available to the public for scrutiny.
That is to enable the electorate or the voting public to scrutinise the manifestoes which give them a perspective on what the candidates have to offer by way of achievable policies.
It is through these manifestoes that people get to know the vision and mission of the political party to enable them to make informed decisions on how to vote.
The public also uses that same platform to assess the capabilities of those offering themselves for positions and decide on whom to vote for.
It’s barely three months to the December 7 polls and still manifestoes of the various political parties are not yet out.
Although the absence of manifestoes by the major political parties is making headlines the question is ‘Are Ghanaians really interested in political manifestoes’.
It is clear that most Ghanaians already have their preferred candidate in mind to vote for during December 7. Those who are demanding for these manifestoes are the few elite who are ready to criticise the various political parties over their vane or failed promises depending on which side they also belong. Come to think of it, how many are interested in political manifestoes.
Come to think of it, how many are interested in political manifestoes.
All they need is to be given money or items as gifts to persuade them to vote for a particular political party.
More so, some groups and individuals are so attached to some political parties to the extent that manifestoes or no manifestoes they will vote for the political party they belong to no matter what.
For instance, rarely would you go to the Volta Region and find most of the people cheering the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Similarily, in the Ashanti Region, support for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is very limited and from all indications this is not about to change.
This has been the case for a number of years and in my view staunch supporters of political parties do not care whether their parties are providing development to their neighbourhood. Their support is based on their emotions or entrenched ideologies and therefore, will not be swayed by what the other party has to offer.
Maybe as the country’s democratic credentials improve, the electorate will also learn to shift their support based on what a candidate have to offer and not because of their affiliation to a particular party.