Representatives of the political parties and the SGL having an interaction

Parties express diverse economic opinions

Dominic Moses Awiah & Esther Omoha Politics Sep - 10 - 2016 , 15:41

A number of political parties have expressed diverse economic opinions on how to move the country forward, should they win the December 7, 2016 elections.

Whereas some criticised the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC)-led government for implementing “wrong policies”, others pledged to introduce result-oriented policies to get the economy back on an even keel.

The parties were the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), the Independents Peoples Party (IPP), the Conventions Peoples Party (CPP), the Progressives People’s Party (PPP), and the NDC.

They clashed at an economic forum in Accra last Wednesday. It was organised by Stepwise Group Limited (SGL), an investment company.

The forum was on the theme “Ghana’s Economic Independence from 2017 and beyond; Political Parties’ Perspective”. It was meant to offer political parties the platform to share some of their economic policies in the build-up to Election 2016.

Earlier, the NDC had hyped its economic policies, stating that the last seven years had witnessed a boost in infrastructural development, especially in the health and education sectors.

NDC track record

A representative from the Election Directorate of the NDC, Dr Ibrahim Zubairu, said over the past four years, the government had implemented solid economic policies that had enhanced the country’s economic fortunes.

He mentioned agriculture and agro industry, information and telecommunication as some of the sectors that had seen many development projects.

According to Dr Zubairu, the next four years of the NDC government would focus more on implementing economic policies that would open up the economy for massive investment.

DPP focus

The Founder of the DPP, Mr Thomas Ward-Brew, blamed the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for playing politics with the country’s economy.

According to him, Ghana’s economy would do better if Ghanaians “stop believing in the lies of the NDC and the NPP and start considering others”.

Mr Ward-Brew said until the NDC and NPP stopped running the economy with their bad policies, the economic woes of Ghana would continue.

NDP not impressed

The General Secretary of the NDP, Mr Mohammed Frimpong, said the party was not impressed with most of the economic policies that the NDC had implemented.

According to him, the fundamentals that could hold the foundations of Ghana’s development had been ignored, adding that “this has created an unstable economy where the country’s currency suffers”.

Mr Frimpong said an NDP-led government would focus more on addressing the ever-increasing unemployment rate by building more factories and investing in the agriculture sector.

IPP ready

The Founder and leader of the IPP, Mr Kofi Akpalo, said Ghana’s economy had not seen any massive growth because little had been done to enhance the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

He said an IPP government would concentrate more on identifying issues that hampered the growth of local businesses and support them with the needed assistance.

“We are ready to offer quality governance for the people,” he added.

CPP focus

Outlining some of the policies the CPP-government would spearhead, the Deputy Communications Director, Mr Richard Adongo Aminu, said “we will not allow foreigners to decide how certain sectors of our economy should be dealt with”.

He mentioned the road and the agriculture sectors as crucial sectors that would not be left in the hands of foreigners to manage.

Mr Aminu described the current economic policies as a “voodoo principle” that had not brought any meaningful development to Ghana.

PPP on job creation

A member of the PPP’s Presidential Policy Team responsible for Economic Management and Infrastructure, Dr Mahama Barwah, said the major agenda of the party would be to create more jobs.

That, he said, would help maximise export and minimise import, while the economy “open up for more investment”.

Under the government of the PPP, Dr Barwah said more would be done in the first four-year term in office than the eight years of the NDC.