Full Report of NPP 2016 Manifesto

Creating Prosperity &
Equal Opportunity for All
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP)
MANIFESTO FOR ELECTION 2016
AN AGENDA FOR JOBS CHANGE

HIGHLIGHTS

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP)
MANIFESTO FOR ELECTION 2016
AN AGENDA FOR JOBS CHANGE
Creating Prosperity &
Equal Opportunity for All
HIGHLIGHTS To be read in conjunction with the main manifesto
(The party’s) policy is to liberate the energies of the
people for the growth of a property owning democracy
in this land, with right to life, freedom and justice, as the
principles to which the Government and laws of the land
should be dedicated in order specifically to enrich life,
property and liberty of each and every citizen.
Dr. J. B. Danquah

MY VISION FOR GHANA
Our nation is in crisis: a crisis created and sustained by
the mismanagement, incompetence and corruption of
the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC)
government. Economic conditions are worsening by the
day and there is so much suffering in the land. But Ghana
does not have to be like this. Ghana deserves the best!
I have dedicated my life to public service to change Ghana
for good. As President, with the help of the Almighty God,
I will be committed to a different kind of government, one
that governs in the national interest, not for private gain.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
v
As I travel the country over the years, I see the pain and sacrifices made by ordinary
Ghanaians everyday:
• by the farmer who struggles to feed his family and send his children to
school, but does not know, whether having made that sacrifice to pay the
bills, his children will even be able to get a job at the end of their studies
• by the mother of the sick child, who has to walk miles on the dusty road to
the clinic to get medicine only to be turned away because the clinic will not
accept her NHIS card and she has no money to pay
• by the young man and woman who, through no fault of their own, have had
to drop out of school and cannot find a way out of life’s difficulties
• by the young man who, because of financial circumstances at home, never
had the opportunity to go to school and is now sleeping rough on the streets
of Accra
• by youth who have worked hard at school, or the University, but still cannot
find a job when they leave. They become street hawkers and even open
roadside shops, but find they struggle to survive because the falling cedi
raises the costs of their goods. Their shops also close because they cannot
afford electricity bills
• by the husband with a family of four who lost his job two years ago, because
his employers had to close down the business due to DUMSOR and the high
cost of operations
• by that young woman whose wages can barely cover her transport fares to
and from work and her share of the one bedroom she shares with her friend,
and
• by the kayayei who have no opportunities or shelter and are forced to sleep
on the streets of our cities.
It is for these people that I am running for President - for ordinary Ghanaians who have
been betrayed by a government that does not care. It is to them that my Government
will be dedicated.
My vision for Ghana is of an optimistic, self-confident and prosperous nation with
a strong and thriving democratic society in which mutual trust and economic
opportunities exist for all, irrespective of their background.
The next New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will place people at its centre. Their
hopes and their concerns will drive its policies and priorities.
MY VISION FOR GHANA
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
vi
I promise to build a Ghana that works and gives each and every one of us the
opportunity to improve our lives. A Ghana that works for us and our families, not just
for the rich and powerful.
I will be a President for all Ghanaians. Whatever your region, your tribe, your gender,
your status, or your religion, I will serve you all.
I will champion your cause with the help of the Almighty God, and every day I wake
up as President, my first and only consideration will be what is best for the country
we all love and what will improve the lives of all our people.
I have an unshakeable faith that our country, the Black Star of Africa, under the
leadership of the NPP, has a bright future, a future that will be secured by the
enterprise, creativity, and hard work of the Ghanaian people.
Join me, so together, we can build a country where, if you show up, step up, and work
hard, you will have your fair share of its wealth, and be fairly rewarded for your hard
work. A country in which hard work pays, and cutting corners does not. A country in
which, no matter where you come from, you will be rewarded based on merit, not on
whom-you-know-basis. A country in which every young person can hope, and aspire,
and reach his or her fullest potential, right here in Ghana.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
MY VISION FOR GHANA
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
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Chairman’s Remarks
Ghana, our dear country, is at the crossroads. We find
ourselves in a messy economic and social crisis.
About eight years ago, no one would have imagined
that Ghana could slip down this much from being one
of the fastest growing economies in the world to a highly
indebted and a highly distressed country.
Ghana, under the NPP government led by President J.
A. Kufuor, moved from a highly indebted poor country
to a middle income country as at 2008.
The question is, what could have gone so wrong to bring us to our current state or
situation?
We are honestly convinced and strongly insist that this is due to the mismanagement,
incompetence and corruption of the Mahama-led NDC government.
On December 7, 2016, the people of Ghana will have an opportunity to end the many
years of hardship under the Mahama-led NDC Government and elect Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the next president of Ghana.
There is HOPE for Ghana. Under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
Ghana will rise again, and be on the right path towards economic prosperity, good
and accountable governance in a stable and a democratic environment.
This manifesto for CHANGE is a blueprint for lifting the country from the abyss, and
reversing the misfortunes of the NDC government under John Mahama.
It is my humble duty as Acting National Chairman of the NPP, to call on all Ghanaians
to vote for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo for President in the 2016 elections.
May God bless Ghana, and us all.
Thank you.
Freddie Blay
National Chairman (Ag.)
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
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NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
A Strong Economy Matters 1
Trade and Industry 9
Energy and Petroleum 13
Agriculture and Rural Development 17
Growing Together 21
Infrastructure 23
Natural Resources - Land, Forestry and Mining 27
Science, Technology, Innovation and Environment 29
Education 31
Health 33
Social Development 37
Governance, Corruption and Public Accountability 39
Local Goverment 41
Security 43
Foreign Affairs 45
Youth and Sports 47
Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts 49
Chieftaincy, Religious Affairs and Civil Society 51
Contents

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM A STRONG
ECONOMY MATTERS
A strong economy creates opportunities,
and inspires more people to start new
businesses. In much the same way, a strong
economy encourages existing businesses to
make new investments, to grow, and expand.
More and well-paying jobs are created,
the private sector hires more people, and
citizens prosper. Public sector-driven job
creation interventions and initiatives also
require a strong economy.
Unfortunately, the economy is broken: there
is widespread hardship and suffering,
resulting in insecurity at all levels.
This is because John Mahama has been
a bad steward of the economy and our
finances. Seven out of every ten Ghanaians
say John Mahama has failed on the
economy, and is leading the country in the
wrong direction.
With GH¢20 billion in taxes and loans
between 2001-2008 and GH¢248 billion in
taxes, oil revenues, and loans between 2009-
2016 respectively. This is the comparative
records between the NPP and NDC:
i. Real GDP
- NPP (2000 – 2008 without oil): 3.7%
to 9.1%
- NDC (2009 – 2015, with oil): 4.8%
down to 3.9% and projected to end
this year at 3.3%, the lowest since
1994.
- Even in the face of a global
economic and financial crisis in
2007/8 (with oil prices reaching
a record high of $147/barrel),
economic growth in 2008 rose to
9.1% under NPP.
- Note that NDC’s 2009 of 4.8% was a
steep drop from our 9.1% at the end
of 2008.
ii. Size of Economy (GDP Size):
- NPP (2000 – 2008): $5.1 billion to
$28.5 billion, a 459% increase in
eight years.
- NDC (Projected end of 2016) $40
billion, just 40% increase in eight
years.
- Between 2012 and 2016 i.e. during
Mahama’s tenure as president, the
economy, in dollar terms, DECLINED
by 5%
iii. Per Capita GDP:
- NPP (2000 – 2008 without oil):
Growth of 187% in 8 years from $440
to $1,266 (addition of $826)
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 1
- NDC (2008 end amount to 2016 with
oil): Growth of 17%, from $1,266 in
2008 to a projected $1,481 (addition
of only $215)
- Between 2012-2016 i.e. Mahama’s
tenure as president it DECLINED by
12%.
iv. Minimum Wage:
- NPP increased the minimum wage
from the equivalent of $0.62 in 2000
to $2.12 in 2008 (i.e. by 244%) in
dollar terms
- NDC: Declined from $2.12 to $2.02
by 2016 (i.e. went down by 4.6%).
Between 2012 and 2016, during
the tenure of President Mahama)
the minimum wage in dollar terms
DECLINED by 23.6%!
v. Income Inequality:
- NPP (2001-2008): Improved by 1.8%
- NDC (2009-2016): The worst decline
(-5%) occurring during Mahama’s
tenure as President
vi. Human Development Index:
- 2000 to 2010: Ghana made the most
progress. The average growth rate
was 1.33
- 2010-2014: Declined 1.13
vii. Food Import Bill:
- 2008: US$600 Million
- 2015: $2.1 Billion!
- Rice imports for example has risen
by 52% from 395,400 metric tonnes
in 2008 to over 600,000 metric
tonnes in 2015
viii. There has been a Freeze on hiring
of Extension Officers under the
Mahama-led NDC government
ix. Cocoa:
- Mass cocoa spraying exercise
introduced by the NPP government
has collapsed and cocoa production
has declined.
- Under NPP, Cocoa production more
than doubled in just two years,
from 341,000 metric tonnes in
the 2001/2002 season to 737,000
metric tonnes by 2003/2004; and
then to one million metric tonnes in
2010/2011.
- It has since declined to less than
750,000 metric tonnes in the
2014/2015 season
x. DUMSOR:
- The economy has endured 5 Years
of DUMSOR, with deeply debilitating
consequences for the economy
- The government is financially
strapped and unable to meet its
obligations to suppliers of Gas from
Nigeria
- Electricity tariffs are now amongst the
highest in the world thanks to high
taxes and corrupt procurement of
power generation systems.
xi. Fiscal Deficit/GDP:
- NPP (2001-2008): Average Fiscal
Deficit/GDP was 4.4%.
2 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
- NDC (2009-2015): Average was
8.1%, with three successive years of
double digit deficits between 2012-
2014 (the first time in our history)
xii. Total Debt:
- NPP: After 51 years of
independence, and at the time NPP
left office in 2008, it was GHC9.5
billion.
- NDC: In just seven years, it has risen
to GHC100 billion in 2015 (moving
the debt to GDP ratio from 32% in
2008 to over 72% in 2015)
xiii. Interest on Debt:
- Under NPP: At the end of 2008, total
annual interest payments amounted
to GHC680 million.
- Under NDC: In 2016, it is GHC10.5
billion. Six times our oil revenue
is now needed to pay one year’s
interest on the debt.
xiv. Banking System
- Rising state-owned enterprise (SOE)
debts, debts owed by government
to bulk-oil distribution companies
(BDCs) etc. has escalated the level
of non-performing loans (NPLs) to as
high as 19.3% in May 2016.
- lending rates have increased from
about 27% in 2008 to 34% in 2016.
- today banks prefer to lend to
government and not to the private
sector
- the exchange rate which stood at
GHC1.20 to US$1 at the end of 2008
has dramatically depreciated to
GHC4.0 to US$1 today. Under NDC
the cedi has been one of the worst
performing currencies in the world
xv. teacher and nursing training
allowances have been cancelled
xvi. nurses and health assistants are not
being posted after completion of
their courses
xvii. drivers and transport operators have
seen a dramatic rise in the costs of
insurance, spare parts, license fees,
DVLA charges and fuel
xviii. Taxes
- Taxes on businesses have increased
dramatically and new taxes have
been introduced
- For example, increases in capital
gains tax (from 10% to 25%),
withholding tax (from 15% to 20%)
and the introduction of the Energy
Levy (10%), VAT on Electricity
(17.5%), VAT on Financial Services
(17.5%), and Special Import Levy.
- Taxes have also been introduced on
ambulances and bicycles
xix. Infrastructure Spending
- government expenditure on
infrastructure has declined
considerably from an average of
11.5% GDP between 2001 and 2008
to 5.7% of GDP between 2009 and
2015.
- The 2016 is even lower at 4.2% of
GDP in 2016.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 3
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
- according to the Managing Director
of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), most of the country’s
borrowing under the Mahama-led
NDC government has been spent on
consumption, rather than investment.
In fact, only 20% of total government
borrowing between 2009 and 2015
has been spent on infrastructure
investment
xx. the country’s sovereign credit rating
has been downgraded from B+ (with
a positive outlook), without oil, under
NPP in 2008 to B (with a negative
outlook) in 2016, with oil, under NDC.
This has resulted in government
having to borrow at much higher cost
xxi. the NHIS has virtually collapsed. The
dreaded cash and carry system has
returned, and
xxii. economic mismanagement has
resulted in the country turning to
the IMF for a bailout and to restore
policy credibility. However, the IMF
programme has not delivered
I. IMPACT OF NDC’S
MISMANAGEMENT,
INCOMPETENCE AND
CORRUPTION ON THE
WELFARE OF GHANAIANS
For the vast majority of Ghanaians, the
toxic mixture of the Mahama government’s
mismanagement, incompetence and
corruption over the last eight years has
resulted in an explosion of suffering in the
country:
• teachers are suffering
• teacher trainees are suffering
• nurses are suffering
• nursing trainees are suffering
• patients are suffering
• students are suffering
• traders are suffering
• pensioners are suffering
• drivers are suffering
• contractors are suffering
• civil servants are suffering
• farmers are suffering
• fishermen are suffering
• industries are suffering
• artisans are suffering
• kayayei are suffering
• men are suffering
• women are suffering
• children are crying
• Ghanaians are suffering
The discovery of oil has not made any
difference in the lives of most Ghanaians,
except for a small group of friends and
family around the President. The country is
clearly not working. The Mahama-led NDC
government is not working and has no clue
about how to get our country to work.
III. NPP’S VISION FOR GHANA
Our overall vision for Ghana is the
development of an optimistic, self-confident
and prosperous nation, through the creative
exploitation of our human and natural
4 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
resources, operating within a democratic,
open and fair society in which mutual trust
and economic opportunities exist for all.
IV. NPP’S ECONOMIC POLICY
OBJECTIVES
On the economy, our goal is simple: to build
the most business-friendly and peoplefriendly
economy in Africa, which will create
jobs and prosperity for all Ghanaians.
We will ensure that growth is socially
responsible, diversified, spread
geographically, comes from genuine value
addition, environmentally sensitive and fair
to all participants in the economy, including
labour.
Our goal, inter alia, is to achieve double digit
GDP growth annually for the next four years
(under the Kufuor-led NPP government the
economy attained a GDP growth rate of
9.1% in 2008 without oil). We will reduce
the cost of doing business, maintain fiscal
discipline, reduce government borrowing
and reduce interest rates to spur private
sector investment.
Our economic programme will enhance
agricultural production and productivity,
along with a transformation of the economy
through value-addition to our raw materials
in a process of rapid industrialization.
We understand that solid and consistent
implementation of structural reforms and
policies is ultimately the key to successful job
creation and therefore NPP will implement
prudent and sustainable economic policies.
Our government will secure the peace and
stability of our nation.
V. NPP’S ECONOMIC POLICY
DIRECTION
To achieve our objectives, our principal
economic policy direction will be to:
1. restore macroeconomic stability
2. shift the focus of economic
management from taxation to
production
3. manage the economy competently,
and
4. make the machinery of government
work to deliver the benefits of
progress to Ghanaians.
VI. WHAT THE NPP WILL DO
a. Restoring Macroeconomic
Stability
The NPP will restore and maintain
macroeconomic stability through the pursuit
of sound policies on the basis of an enhanced
institutional framework. Macroeconomic
stability is built around three pillars: monetary
discipline, fiscal discipline and financial
stability. To reinforce monetary discipline,
the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612)
established the Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) to guide the implementation of
monetary policy. The other two pillars (fiscal
discipline and financial stability) have no
such institutional anchors.
An NPP government will enact a Fiscal
Responsibility Law (FRL) to bring
comprehensiveness, accountability,
transparency and stability to the entire
budgetary process. Under this law, a Fiscal
Council would be established to contribute
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 5
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
to the accountability of Government,
responsible for setting up medium-term
fiscal policy anchors to guide fiscal policy
as well as monitor compliance.
We also will establish a Financial Stability
Council (akin to the proposed Fiscal Council)
that is well grounded in law. Its mandate,
among others, will include assessing the
vulnerabilities affecting the stability of the
financial system.
In addition,to restore overall macroeconomic
stability, the NPP will:
i. undertake financial sector reform to
deepen financial markets, promote
financial inclusion, including
deepening our electronic payments
system
iii. formalize the economy through the
establishment of a national database,
using the National Identification
System as the primary identifier,
with linkages to the databases
of institutions such as the Police,
National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS), Passport Office, Immigration,
Courts, Ghana Revenue Authority
(GRA), and the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority (DVLA), and
b. Shifting the Focus of Economic
Management from Taxation to
Production
The mismanagement of the economy under
the Mahama-led NDC government has
resulted in an increase in taxes on virtually
everything taxable. This has increased
the burden on the private sector and has
become a disincentive for production.
To address these challenges, the NPP will
shift the focus of economic policy away from
taxation to production by:
i. reducing the corporate tax rate from
25% to 20%
ii. removing import duties on raw
materials and machinery for
production within the context of the
ECOWAS Common External Tariff
(CET) Protocol
iii. abolishing the Special Import Levy
iv. abolishing the 17.5% VAT on
imported medicines not produced in
the country
v. abolishing the 17.5% VAT on
Financial Services
vi. abolishing the 5% VAT on Real Estate
sales
vii. abolishing the 17.5% VAT on
domestic airline tickets
viii. reducing VAT for micro and small
enterprises from the current 17.5% to
the 3% Flat Rate VAT introduced by
the Kufuor-led NPP government
ix. introducing tax credits and other
incentives for businesses that hire
young graduates from tertiary
institutions, and
x. reviewing withholding taxes imposed
on various sectors (including the
mining sector) that have constrained
the liquidity of many businesses
The ensuing increase in production
and economic growth, arising from a
streamlining as well as the elimination and
6 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
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reduction of some of these taxes, will more
than compensate for any temporary revenue
shortfall. Growth is expected to increase to
double digits starting 2017. Indeed, during
the NPP tenure between 2001 and 2008,
corporate taxes were slashed from 32% to
25% and tax revenue actually increased!
The data shows that, notwithstanding (or
because of) the high level of taxes, there is
a revenue shortfall of GH¢700 million for the
first half of 2016.
Additional sources of revenue, and therefore
fiscal space to finance these tax reductions
will include:
i. broadening of the tax base as a
result of formalization of the economy
ii. increase in tax compliance
iii. reduced government expenditure as
a result of increased collaboration
with the private sector and
prioritization of government
expenditure
iv. savings from the reduction of interest
rates paid on the country’s debt
stock
v. increase in oil and gas revenues
from TEN and SANKOFA fields
vi. elimination of corruption, especially
in procurement of goods and
services, which is estimated at about
1.5% of GDP annually, and
vii. plugging leakages in the
administration of public finances.
The Auditor General’s Report has
indicated that between 2012 and
2014, GH¢5.9 billion of government
funds cannot be accounted for.
Collectively, these measures will more
than exceed any revenue shortfall from the
reduction in taxes.
c. Competent Management of the
Economy
The NPP has a solid record of economic
management, including growing the
economy, holding down debt judicious use
of public finances while displaying a high
sense of fiscal responsibility.
The first transformation Ghanaians will
therefore witness under the next NPP
government, after the 2016 elections, is the
transformation from the mismanagement,
incompetence and corruption under the
Mahama-led NDC government to prudent
management, competence, and integrity
under an NPP government.
d. A Government Machinery that
Works
Under the Mahama-led NDC government,
the quality of service delivery across all
levels have broken down.
Ordinary Ghanaians encounter deep
frustrations and needless obstacles
attempting to access public services from
government agencies and institutions,
including acquiring driving licences,
acquiring passports, registering businesses,
processing pension payments, processing
payrolls for new teachers, nurses, doctors,
and police officers, and land document
registrations.
The NPP believes that the purpose of
Government is to help improve our lives,
that of our families, and our communities,
and an inefficient government machinery
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 7
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
defeats this purpose, no matter the
investments government allegedly makes in
infrastructure.
In this direction, in addition to managing
the economy competently, the NPP will
immediately deploy resources, both in
equipment and personnel, in fixing the basics
of the government machinery in order to
deliver standardised services at affordable,
transparent prices, faster turnaround times,
and with professional handling of exceptions
and grievances.
In sum, we will make Ghana work again.
WE WILL:
• restore macroeconomic stability
• shift the focus of economic
management from taxation to
production
• manage the economy
competently, and
• make the machinery of
government work to deliver the
benefits of progress to Ghanaians.
8 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
A STRONG ECONOMY MATTERS
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM TRADE AND
INDUSTRY
Unemployment today has reached
unprecedented levels under John Mahama.
Millions of Ghanaians wake up each day to
the soul-destroying reality of joblessness
and they spend their energies looking for
non-existent jobs.
The country’s industrial sector faces
significant challenges, the principal ones
of which are lack of access to finance, high
interest rates, inadequate and poor quality
raw materials for industrial processing, poorly
developed domestic trade, weak consumer
protection, lack of effective collaboration
between research institutions and industry,
poor trade facilitation, an unstable exchange
rate, lack of coherent industrial development
planning and initiatives, poor research and
development support scheme for industry,
lack of land for industrial zones, high import
duties on raw materials, poor standards
of certification, and an unreliable and
expensive power source.
Since job creation, for us in the NPP, is
essentially a private sector activity, the
number one priority for the next NPP
government will be to put in place the policy
framework that will help businesses expand
and create jobs, as well as promote the
growth of entrepreneurship opportunities for
young Ghanaians in particular.
What the NPP will do:
Our strategy is to address its challenges
in ways that enable industry to thrive and
become a major source of jobs, especially
for the youth, including:
a. pursuing aggressive industrialization
and value-addition to agricultural
produce
b. providing tax and related incentives
for manufacturing businesses in
sectors such as agro-processing,
light industries, pharmaceuticals,
petrochemicals, garments and
textiles, among others
c. providing a reliable and cost
effective mix of energy supply for
businesses
d. pursuing policies that will reduce
interest rates
e. implementing policies that will
reduce the cost of doing business
f. stabilizing the currency
g. providing incentives to the hospitality
and creative industries that will
enable them create jobs
h. investing in skills training and
apprenticeships, and
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 9
i. promoting exports, especially of
value-added agricultural produce
and light manufactures.
Key initiatives we will initiate and implement
include:
a. establishing an Industrial
Development Fund (IDF) to
finance critical private sector
industrial initiatives. The Fund will
be seeded and fed by funding from
Government, multilateral and private
institutional investors
b. re-orient energy tariff policy to
reduce the burden on businesses
c. launch a comprehensive National
Plan for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation that will invest in
supporting young businesses and
start-ups, and
d. develop, in collaboration with trade
unions, a database for trained
apprentices and artisans, and
establish a National Apprentice
Recruitment Agency
e. creating an information portal and
set up a task force to assist our youth
and artisans in making their products
and services visible on a local,
national, and global scale.
f. “One District One Factory
Initiative”: In collaboration with
the private sector, the NPP will
implement the “One District, One
Factory” Initiative. This District
Industrialization Programme will
ensure an even, spatial spread of
industries.
g. Strategic Anchor Initiatives:
Government will partner private
local and foreign investors to
develop large scale strategic anchor
industries to serve as growth poles
for the economy, especially in
petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals,
iron and steel, cement, aluminium,
salt, vehicle assembly, manufacture
of heavy machinery, equipment and
machine parts, agro-processing,
garments and textiles, assembly of
electronics and light machinery.
h. Industrial Sub-contracting
Exchange: Through a concerted,
collaborative and collective effort,
the NPP will enforce local content
provisions by developing efficient
and competitive local supplier
networks for the goods and services
that industry needs and that can
realistically be sourced locally. To
facilitate this, the NPP will develop a
National Industrial Sub-contracting
Exchange to link SMEs with large
scale enterprises.
i. NPP believes in empowering the
local private sector and will pass
legislation to require that at least
70% of all Government of Ghana,
taxpayer-financed contracts and
procurements be executed by
local corporate entities.
j. In addition, the NPP will introduce
a policy requiring that 30% of the
required 70% be sourced from
entities owned by women, persons
with disability, and those established
under the Youth Enterprise Fund
(YEF). (See “Youth and Sports” for
details of YEF)
10 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
TRADE AND INDUSTRY


NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM ENERGY AND
PETROLEUM
Under the Kufuor-led NPP government
(2001-2008), significant contributions were
made to the country’s energy resources and
infrastructure as a result of our bold and
farsighted policies. These included:
i. the discovery of oil and gas in
commercial quantities
ii. the construction of the West African
Gas Pipeline
iii. in response to the emerging
energy crisis of 2006/2007, through
facilitations, procurements, and
construction, an addition of 1440MW
to Ghana’s generating capacity as
follows:
• Bui Dam (400MW)
• Tema Thermal 1 Power Plant -
TT1PP (126MW)
• Tema Thermal 2 Power Plant –
TT2PP (49MW)
• Mines Reserve Plants (80MW)
• Kpone Thermal Power Plant
(220MW)
• Additions to Akosombo Hydro
Power (108MW)
• Takoradi 1 Power Plant – T1,
Aboadze (132MW)
• Sunon Asogli Plant (200MW),
and
• Osonor (now CENIT) Plant
(126MW)
I. POWER SECTOR
The NDC government inherited an economy
with no DUMSOR in 2009. However, the
energy sector has since been badly
managed. The poor management of the
sector has been characterized by shortfalls
in power generation, corrupt and opaque
procurement of new power plants, frequent
power cuts, inefficiencies and unsustainable
inter-utility debts, which threaten the
satisfactory long-term operation of the
power sector.
The effect of the last five years of DUMSOR
on our economy has been devastating.
The Institute of Statistical Scientific and
Economic Research (ISSER), in its 2014
study, indicates, that on average, the country
is losing production worth about US$ 2.1
million per day (or, US$ 55.8 million per
month) as a result of DUMSOR alone and
that, the country lost about US$680 million in
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 13
2014 translating into about 2% of GDP due
to the power crisis.
It is now clear that Mahama has run out of
things on which to blame DUMSOR. From
acts of God, to blaming Nigeria, to wishing
it away, it is obvious that, five years into this
state of affairs and Mahama announcing that
he had fixed DUMSOR, he does not know
how to provide Ghanaians with a long-term,
stable and reliable electricity supply.
The hard, cold truth is that despite the
recent election-inspired, artificial semblance
of stability in the power supply situation,
the fundamental challenges leading to
DUMSOR remain, and the quick fixes have
instead resulted in the imposition of high cost
emergency plants on Ghanaians, corruptly
procured from AMERI and KARPOWER. We
still owe millions of United States Dollars to
Nigeria for gas supplies.
In fact, Mahama’s greatest legacy to
Ghana as President is DUMSOR.
There is increased uncertainty about the
future stability of power supply under the
NDC government. Many businesses and
residential consumers of electricity are
justifiably afraid that DUMSOR would come
back, if the NDC is retained in power, as it has
not demonstrated capacity in addressing
these challenges.
What the NPP will do:
a. end “DUMSOR” in the short-term,
through government liquidity
injection, restructuring of debts, and
securing of firm commitments for the
reliable supply of fuel
b. reduce taxes on electricity tariffs
to provide immediate relief to
households and industry
c. conduct a technical audit on all
power sector infrastructure and
develop and implement a 10-year
Power Sector Master Plan which will
be reviewed thereafter, to meet our
medium to long-term energy needs
d. develop and implement an Energy
Sector Financial Restructuring and
Recovery Plan, incorporating, a
liquidity management mechanism
for VRA, Electricity Company of
Ghana (ECG), Northern Electricity
Department (NED) and the BDCs
e. ensure that there is sufficient
Reserve Margin – the safety cushion
we need to prevent blackouts – to
ensure the stability of the system
f. build solar parks in the northern part
of the country. To achieve this, we
will provide investment tax credits to
owners of commercial, industrial, and
utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV)
systems to take a one-time tax credit
of qualified installed costs, and
g. ensure local supply of solar panels
to meet the requirement of our
policy proposals, by establishing a
Renewable Energy Industrial Zone
where the private sector will be
supported to build factories for the
production and assembling of the full
components of solar power systems.
14 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
ENERGY AND PETROLEUM
II. PETROLEUM SECTOR
In 2007, when commercial quantities
of oil and gas were discovered in the
Jubilee Fields as a result of the Kufuor-led
NPP government’s bold and farsighted
policies, many Ghanaians hoped for
improved conditions of living through the
transformative effect of oil.
Ghana produced first oil in 2009. Seven
years on, many Ghanaians have lost hope
in the promise of oil. What they see under
the Mahama-led NDC government is an
unrestrained move towards what is popularly
called the “oil curse”.
What the NPP will do:
The NPP commits to a transparent,
accountable and efficient management of
the country’s petroleum resources for the
benefit of all Ghanaians.
In pursuant of this, the NPP will:
a. improve transparency in the
management of our oil and gas
resources. Our commitment to
passing the Right to Information Bill
will further enhance transparency in
the oil and gas sector
b. in collaboration with the private
sector, accelerate oil exploration
in the Voltaian Basin (Northern,
Volta, Ashanti, Eastern, and Brong
Ahafo), as well as in the Keta and
Accra Basins to enhance Ghana’s
potential for increasing oil and gas
production and to build these areas
into industrial growth poles
c. develop, in collaboration with the
private sector, Western Region into
a regional oil services hub with a
first class port facility, as well as
positioning it as an efficient centre
for back-office support for the oil
industry in the West African region,
including the relocation of the
headquarters of GNPC to the region
d. aggressively invest in education and
skills enhancement of Ghanaians
to manage the oil and gas sector
under an “Accelerated Oil Capacity
Development Programme”
e. support the growth of local
competition by redeeming
government obligations to the BDCs
f. address macroeconomic instability to
ensure the effective implementation
of the petroleum price deregulation
policy
III. PETROLEUM REVENUE
MANAGEMENT
What the NPP will do:
i. review and further amend the
Petroleum Revenue Management Act
2011 (Act 815) to support investment
of revenue from oil in high-impact
strategic social and economic
infrastructure
ii. between 2017 and 2020, primarily
allocate revenue from oil to
infrastructure, health, education and
agriculture
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 15
ENERGY AND PETROLEUM
iii. leverage oil revenue to complete
the Accra-Kumasi-Paga rail line
connections and the rehabilitation of
the Western and Eastern Rail Lines,
and
iv. manage and use the revenue from
the Jubilee, as well as from the
TEN and SANKOFA fields, in a
responsible and transparent manner.
16
ENERGY AND PETROLEUM
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM AGRICULTURE AND
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Agriculture continues to be the anchor of
the country’s economy, employing more
than half of our workforce. Growth in this
sector has declined dramatically under the
NDC’s mismanagement, incompetence
and corruption. Food is unnecessarily
expensive in a country that is blessed with
fertile land. Our production methods are not
modern and income levels of farmers and
fisherfolk remain low, thus making the sector
unattractive for the youth as a sustainable
means of livelihood.
Our vision for the next four years is to
modernize agriculture, improve production
efficiency, achieve food security, and
profitability for our farmers, all aimed
at significantly increasing agricultural
productivity. The NPP will pursue a valueaddition
strategy, aimed at rapidly ramping
up agro-processing and developing new
and stable markets for our products.
What the NPP will do:
In pursuing ithis vision, the NPP will do the
following:
a. increase subsidies on retail prices
of seeds, fertilizers and other
agrochemicals
b. focuse on developing irrigation
schemes in the Afram Plains and the
Northern Savannah
c. provide a mechanism to capture the
water released by the annual spillage
of the Bagre dam in Burkina to use
for irrigation in the north. We will also
begin immediate discussions with
the Government of Burkina Faso for
a more controlled spillage of the dam
to prevent the flooding that takes
place, and
d. facilitate the provision of communityowned
and managed small-scale
irrigation facilities across the country,
especially in northern Ghana,
through the policy of “One Village,
One Dam”.
e. work to achieve the UNrecommended
ratio of one extension
officer to 500 farmers, with emphasis
on recruiting female extension
officers.
f. revamp existing mechanization
centres and support the private
sector to establish, manage, and
provide affordable mechanisation
services to farmers.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 17
g. properly implement the block farming
system devoid of the cronyism and
political interference that have turned
the NDC’s implementation of this
largely proven farming technique into
a complete failure.
h. pay special attention to selected
products for accelerated
development, including grains, fruits,
vegetables, tubers, oil palm, cotton,
shea, cashew, cocoa, horticulture,
livestock, fisheries and poultry.The
NPP will help organize producers
of these crops into producers’
associations and pursue value
addition to these products as the
core strategy of an agriprocessing
and agribusiness development plan
and help promote them.
Cocoa:
i. NPP’s objective over the next four
years is to restore production to over
one million metric tonnes per annum.
The NPP will, therefore, redesign
the following policies, and position
them as farmer-owned and managed
programmes:
- reactivate and expand the
mass spraying and Hi-tech
programmes
- replant old cocoa farms with
high-yielding and disease
resistant plants
- we recognise the suffering many
farmers have undergone due to
the NDC Government’s failure
to compensate farmers who
lose their trees to the swollen
shoot disease. The NPP will
reintroduce compensation
payments under the cocoa
disease control programme
- ensure that farmers receive
increased producer prices
plus bonuses high enough to
encourage them to produce
more cocoa for export
- ensure that the value that
farmers receive for their produce
is not diluted by depreciation of
the cedi against the dollar
- facilitate access to farmlands for
youth in cocoa producing areas
- set up special schemes to
attract youth into cocoa farming
- strengthen and expand local
cocoa processing
- intensify the search for new
markets for our processed cocoa
products
- in collaboration with the private
sector, the NPP will facilitate
the establishment of Livestock
Development Centres in the
three agro-climatic zones to
promote the production of cattle
and small ruminants like sheep
and goats
- we will also ensure availability
as well as the effective and
transparent distribution of
pre-mix fuel to fisherfolk,
eliminate import duties for
fishing equipment like nets and
outboard motors, enforce the
18 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
fisheries management policies,
such as those embodied in the
Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625),
including on pair trawling and
other illegal and unapproved
fishing methods
- continue with the programme
of building landing sites and
storage facilities, at places such
as Cape Coast, Mumford,
Teshie, Axim, Keta, Ada,
Jamestown, and Winneba
- restore the Korle Lagoon,
including the reintroduction of its
fish stocks
- we will support the private sector
to expand local production of
poultry feed and veterinary
products
- institute anti-dumping measures
on poultry
- support selected products
beyond the farm gate to
incorporate post-harvest
activities, including storage,
transportation, processing,
packaging, marketing and
distribution by providing
incentives to the private sector
and District Assemblies to
invest in post-harvest activities,
including the building of pack
houses and storage facilities
both on farms and in locations
close to production centres,
- expedite the full implementation
of an active Commodity
Exchange using its purchasing
power to create demand for
locally-produced food items
by ensuring that all foods
purchased with government
funds
- facilitate and support the
establishment of stakeholdercontrolled
marketing companies
for grains and selected
products, including a Cashew
Marketing Authority, and
- revive the Grains Development
Board
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 19
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM GROWING TOGETHER:
RE-ORIENTING CAPITAL EXPENDITURE TO
RURAL COMMUNITIES, INNER CITIES, COASTAL/
FISHING, AND ZONGO COMMUNITIES
The challenges of development and poverty
in the country should not be a matter of
geographical location. Around the country,
there are millions who face poverty and
deprivation daily, and who need urgent,
deliberate and forceful intervention from
the state to improve their lives and their
circumstances.
An NPP government, between 2017 and
2020, will aggressively pursue policies that
will be targeted at particular segments of our
population who continue to be excluded, and
who miss out on the myriad of opportunities
that abound not only in the country, but also
in today’s globalised world.
What the NPP will do:
Growing Together consists of seven major
economic initiatives, designed to take giant
leaps in transforming Ghana holistically, with
particular emphasis on rural and deprived
communities, in a major effort at inclusive
development of all parts of the country, by
adopting a localised development approach.
These are:
a. the Infrastructure for Poverty
Eradication Programme (IPEP).
Under IPEP under which every
constituency in the country will
be allocated the equivalent of $1
Million annually to finance capital
expenditure on upgrading and
improving infrastructure, and/or on
developing new facilities especially
in rural and deprived communities.
It is envisaged, as part of their core
mandate, that the three Development
Authorities - Northern, Middle Belt,
and Coastal - will be the primary
executing agencies under the IPEP.
The Development Authorities will
report directly to the Office of
the President, which will ensure
accountability in their operations.
b. the restructuring of the Savannah
Accelerated Development Authority
(SADA)” to the original design
and mandate of the Northern
Development Authority (NDA)
which will cover Northern, Upper
East and Upper West Region. One
of the major programmes of NDA will
be to oversee the implementation of
the “One Village, One Dam” Policy
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 21
c. the establishment of a Middle
Belt Development Authority
(MBA) which will be responsible
for Northern Volta, the proposed
“Western North Region”, Ashanti
Region, Eastern Region, and the
Brong Ahafo Region.
d. the establishment of a Coastal
Development Authority (CDA),
covering the coastal areas of Volta
and the Western Regions, and the
Greater Accra and Central Regions.
e. the establishment of a Zongo
Development Fund to invest in:
- education and training within the
Zongos
- improved infrastructure in the
Zongos targeting health and
sanitation
- supporting local businesses and
centres of culture and arts, and
- community policing and security.
f. the creation of a new, “Western
North” Administrative Region in
order to open it up for accelerated
development, and
g. the restructuring of the Royalty
Sharing Ratios with Mining
Communities to increase the share
of revenues that mining communities
currently receive in royalty payments
to 20% from the current 10%
22 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
GROWING TOGETHER
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure development under the
Mahama-led NDC government has been
characterised by massive corruption
through contract overpricing, opaque and
shady contracting processes, and gross
abuse of the sole sourcing provisions of the
Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
However, the cost of building the new 600-
bed teaching hospital by the University
of Ghana is $30m less than the cost of
renovating and expanding the Ridge
Hospital from a 200-bed to a 420-bed facility.
These are just a few examples of the corrupt
nature of infrastructure development under
the Mahama-led NDC government. Indeed,
given the resources at its disposal, the
nation should have received at least four to
five times the quantum of investment that the
NDC claims to have undertaken in terms of
infrastructure development.
What the NPP will do:
Under an Integrated Infrastructure
Development Programme (IIDP), the NPP
will take measures to curb the massive
corruption in the infrastructure development
sector and to ensure that Ghana receives
Value-for-money on all such projects. The
key components of our IIDP are:
a. the National Asset Protection
Project
b. development of interconnected
Roads, Railways, Ports & Harbours
(RRHPs) Systems
c. development of an aviation hub for
international & regional airlines
d. a Water For All Programme to
ensure every Ghanaian has acsess
to potable water
e. Flood Control Interventions
f. mainstreaming ICT in governance &
public service delivery, and
g. a quality, affordable Housing For All
strategy
Our principal financing and executing
strategy will be mutually beneficial Public
Private Partnerships (PPPs). Some of the key
programmes under these are:
a. unlocking, under the National Asset
Protection Project, the billions
of Ghana cedis in numerous
uncompleted projects scattered
around the country by conducting
physical and financial audit to locate,
identify, value, securitise, and raise
funding on the back of these assets
to complete viable projects. This will
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 23
ensure continuity in development as
funds will be available to continue
projects started by predecessor
governments
b. adhering strictly to the provisions
of the Procurement Law in order to
reduce high project costs and obtain
value for money in project award
c. pass legislation for at least 20% of
road contracts, awarded to foreign
contractors, to be sub-contracted to
local contractors
d. completely overhauling the Western
and Eastern Lines to facilitate the
haulage of bauxite, manganese,
cocoa, cement, iron ore and other
bulk commodities as well as the
transportation of people. The
rehabilitation of the Eastern Line,
in particular, will also facilitate the
operation of the Boankra Inland
Port which has been rendered
inoperable as a result of the nonfunctioning
of the line. The activation
of the Boankra Inland Port will lead to
the creation of thousands of jobs.
e developing an integrated Light Rail
Transit System for our major cities
to connect main business districts
with outlying residential locations
f. extending the Eastern Rail Line
from Kumasi to Paga, to create an
Accra-Kumasi-Paga connection to
facilitate haulage of goods from, and
to the North, and the exploitation of
iron ore and other mineral reserves in
the North
g building a Tema-Akosombo Rail
Link to tie in with a vibrant and
revived Volta Lake transportation
system to provide a major avenue
for expanded transportation and the
resulting economic activity.
h. expanding the Takoradi Harbour to
Sekondi as well as constructing a
logistics centre in Sekondi.
i. constructing new harbours at
Jamestown in Accra and in Keta.
j. building, in collaboration with the
private sector, new entry points into
major cities like Accra, Takoradi,
Kumasi and Tamale, and
k. constructing, in collaboration with
the private sector, by-passes and
interchanges at major intersections
including Point 7, Tamale, the
Tema Motorway Roundabout, the
Suame Roundabout and Oforikrom
Intersection in Kumasi, and the
Takoradi PTC Roundabout.
l. reducing the price of aviation fuel to
match prices in the region to make
our airports more competitive and
domestic airlines viable
m. abolishing the 17.5% VAT on
domestic air fares
n. encourage and support local airlines
and entrepreneurs to set up strong
private airlines that can fully utilize all
the nation’s route rights
o. sinking at least 25,000 new
boreholes and an additional 300
small town water supply systems in
the rural areas and small towns
24 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
INFRASTRUCTURE
p. undertaking major water systems
(treatment plants and associated
distribution systems)
q. constructing storm drains in Accra
and other cities and towns to deal
with the recurrent, devastating
floods.
r. establishing a National Hydrology
Authority (NHA), which will be
responsible for, and shall plan,
develop, maintain, protect and
administer drainage, flood control
measures, major dams and sea
defence measures, including
construction of major storm drains to
reduce the risk of flooding, constant
dredging and desilting of our water
ways and drains to ensure the free
flow of flood waters.
s. placing ICT, and especially data
science, including analytics, at the
centre of the national development
agenda, by completing the
registration of all residents in Ghana
under the National Identification
Scheme within the first year of taking
office, establishing an integrated
Data Warehouse of databases from
key public institutions, using the
National Identification System as the
unique identifier for data items, and
automating the processes involved
in accessing public services at
both national and local government
offices
t. developing ICT Incubator Hubs in
various regional capitals to create
business opportunities in the private
sector, and as part of our efforts to
digitize access to social and public
services and to invest in technology
start-ups
u. establishing land banks with
infrastructure such as roads,
drainage, water and power in place
for the development of affordable
housing units on a public-private
partnership (PPP) basis
v. abolishing the 5% VAT on real estate
sales
w. working with identifiable groups
such as the Trades Union Congress
(TUC), Ghana National Association
of Teachers (GNAT), National
Association of Graduate Teachers
(NAGRAT), Farmer’s Groups and
other trade groups to facilitate the
construction of homes for their
members through the provision of the
appropriate financing guarantees
x. fully implementing section 103
(assignment of pension benefits for
housing of workers) of the National
Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766)
y. facilitating the development of an
active mortgage market to expand
mortgage loans to Ghanaians.
These investments will also increase
the volume of business from landlocked
countries in the region.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 25
INFRASTRUCTURE

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
NATURAL RESOURCES –
LAND, FORESTRY AND
MINING
The country is richly endowed with natural
resources like fertle lands, lakes, rivers,
forests, wildlife, fish and minerals which are
vital for her development.
The NPP policy on forestry resources
will seek to rehabilitate degraded forest
reserve areas through planting of fastgrowing
indigenous and exotic species,
conservation and sustainable use of natural
resources, support conservation and
biodiversity, protect our water bodies and
ensure environmentally sustainable mining
activities, particularly in small-scale mining.
What the NPP will do:
a. target annually 30,000 hectares (ha)
of degraded areas within and outside
forest reserves for reforestation and
plantation development.
b. support the annual establishment
of 1,000 hectares of bamboo and
rattan plantations and encourage
individuals and private sector
involvement through the provision of
subsidized planting materials
c. support the enhancement of the
ecotourism industry.
d. comprehensively protect our water
catchment areas,through the Clean
Rivers Programme (CRP)
e. commit to ensuring that turnaround
time for land registration is reduced
to 30 working days
f. ensuring that mineral revenues are
efficiently managed for the benefit
of Ghanaians. The NPP will enact
a consolidated Mineral Revenue
Management Law, similar to the
Petroleum Revenue Management Act
2011 (Act 815), to guide the use of
mineral revenues in strategic sectors
of our economy, and
g. structure the small scale mining
industry so that its activities can take
place within guidelines set up under
the appropriate regulations. This will
enable small scale miners work and
earn their livelihoods in a regulated,
secure, and lawful environment.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 27

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
INNOVATION AND
ENVIRONMENT
Science and technology contributes less
than 1% of Ghana’s GDP, compared to an
average of 2.5% in the rest of Africa. It is the
NPP’s intention to achieve at least 1.5% over
the next four years.
What the NPP will do:
a. establish a Presidential Advisory
Council for Science and
Technology (PACST) as an advisory
group to directly advise the President
on all matters and policies regarding
science, technology and innovation
b. expand the research and
development capabilities of the
country through the establishment of
Regional Technology Parks
c. in collaboration with the private
sector and international financial
institutions, establish a flagship
system of Ghana Centres of
Excellence (GCEs) across the
country that networks all Higher
Education Institutes (HEIs), including
all other research organizations
such as Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR)’s
institutes and Cocoa Research
Institute of Ghana (CRIG). The GCEs
will cover themes such as:
• biomedical engineering
• pharmaceutical technology and
bioequivalence research
• crop improvements and seed
technology
• environment and sanitation
engineering
• energy engineering
• manufacturing equipment
engineering
• agricultural technology
• food process engineering
• building technology, and
• electronics and electronic
assembly
At least 3 GCEs would be established by the
end of 2020.
d. support the national policy of
achieving 60:40 student ratio for
the Sciences as compared to the
Humanities by expanding STEM
scholarship schemes
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 29

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM EDUCATION
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 31
We aim to shift the structure and content
of our education system away from merely
passing examinations to building character,
nurturing values, and raising literate,
confident, and engaged citizens who can
think critically.
What the NPP will do:
a. create a Consultative Council
of Researchers, the Association
of Ghanaian Industries, Ghana
Chamber of Commerce,
Representatives of Major Banks and
Venture Capital Funds to source for
funding to take research finding from
the laboratory to the market place
b. establish a Manufacturing Plant
at the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology for
the production of prototypes of the
inventions and creations of scientists
and innovators in the country. The
Plant will build prototypes
c. reintegrate physical education and
recreation into mainstream education
d. ensure that kindergarten places are
available for all four-year old children
in the country.
e. redefine basic education to include
Senior High School (SHS), covering
vocational, agricultural and technical
schools, and make it available
for free on a universal basis to all
Ghanaians
f. build an effective partnership with
religious bodies, civic organizations
and the private sector in the delivery
of quality education. This partnership
will also include the areas of
management, supervision and
training of teachers in their units
g. teachers will be treated with respect
and we shall ensure that teachers’
salaries and allowances are paid
regularly and on time
h. focus on the provision of incentives
that will motivate teachers, and
reward their hard work in the
classroom
i. collaborate with GNAT, NAGRAT,
and other teaching associations
to facilitate an affordable housing
scheme for teachers
j. ensure that teachers who upgrade
their qualifications and skills are
promoted promptly and that their
32 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
EDUCATION
salary increases take immediate
effect
k. ensure proper decentralization of
teachers’ recruitment and other
document processing activities and
relieve teachers of the frustrating,
bureaucratic processing of
documents at the centre
l. aggressively promote Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) education
across all levels of the education
system.
m. put in place a programme for the
popularization and better teaching of
the French language in our schools
n. strengthen the participation of the
Missions in the Mission-founded
schools.
o. we will restore allowances to Arabic/
Islamic instructors and additionally
support Arabic/Islamic instructors
with training and other incentives to
motivate them. We will also introduce
Arabic as an optional language to be
taught and examined at the JHS and
SHS levels.
p. provide sporting facilities and
revive sporting competitions among
schools
q. ensure that children with special
needs are, whenever possible,
integrated within regular schools.
r. improve the facilities and the
curriculum for ICT education at all
levels
s. in collaboration with the private
sector, provide free Wifi coverage
for senior secondary and tertiary
institutions nationwide dedicated
to learning, administration and
enhancing the capacity to do
research.
t. the Book and Research
allowances for lecturers will be
restored, and we will establish a
Research Fund to facilitate further
research and innovation.
u. We will also abolish the payment of
utility bills by students
v. We will also increase the amount
of loans under the Student
Loan Scheme and restructure
to streamline its administration to
enhance recovery of the loans.
w. reactivate the original aim of linking
Technical/Vocational institutions to
Technical Universities to refocus on
technical education and position
them to be at the forefront of the
NPP’s One District, One Factory
programme.
x. encourage the Colleges of Education
to update their curricula to ensure its
graduates are well-equipped, and
y. restore in full, teacher trainee
allowances
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM HEALTH
The health system in the country is critical
for national development. The vision of
the NPP is to see that the right to health of
all Ghanaians is guaranteed through an
established health sector with sustainable
ability to deliver affordable, equitable and
easily accessible healthcare.
To realise this vision, the NPP will expand
health promotion programmes, scale
up disease prevention strategies and
improve access to curative and emergency
services, through vigorous human resource
and health infrastructure development
and strengthening of the National Health
Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Under the leadership of President J.A.
Kufuor, the NPP improved the health of
Ghanaians by the:
i. introduction and implementation of
NHIS and free maternal care
ii. implementation of the Community
Health Planning and Service concept
iii. establishment of the National
Ambulance Service
iv. expansion, equipping and increasing
of the number of health facilities
v. capacity building and increase of the
number of health professionals
vi. establishment of the Ghana
Postgraduate Medical College
vii. introduction of Regenerative
Health and Nutrition through health
promotion programmes
viii. improvement of the provision of
vaccine for preventable childhood
diseases
ix. provision of highly subsidized antiretroviral
medicines for HIV/AIDS
patients, and
x. introduction of sanitation
programmes.
What the NPP will do:
a. revive the National Health Insurance
Scheme to make it efficient, with
capacity to finance health services
on a timely basis in a bid to achieve
universal health coverage for all
Ghanaians by:
- reviewing and restructuring the
sources of funding, as well as
the institutional arrangements for
the management of the National
Health Insurance Fund (NHIF)
- increasing budgetary allocations
to the NHIS
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 33
- directing and strictly ceding
all funds raised through the
NHIA Levy into the NHIF, and
concentrating on activities
that focus on quality patient
treatment, medication, and care
- utilising the best in technology
and health insurance
management protocols to tackle
waste, corruption, and insurance
claim fraud under the NHIS. This
will include completely phasing
out the manual processing of
claims (claims management)
which currently stands at about
90%, tightly linking services and
drugs to hospital attendance,
and treatment to diagnosis
- adopting a modernised strategy
towards drugs procurement,
including the establishment of
a preferred pharmacy network,
incentivising appropriate
prescriptions, and gradually
shifting away from the Central
Medical Stores arrangement,
and
- emphasising preventive
healthcare
b. invest in the expansion and
equipping of medical schools to train
more medical doctors
c. restore trainee nurses’ allowances
in full
d provide free specialist postgraduate
training in our established
postgraduate training institutions,
and
e. restore and streamline tax reliefs,
abolished by the NDC government,
which facilitated the purchase of
vehicles by healthcare workers under
the Kufuor-led NPP government
f. build an Accident and Emergency
Centre in Takoradi,
g. upgrade all existing District
Hospitals where they exist, and
where they do not, establish one.
NPP’s aim is for each District to
have at least one hospital
h. strengthen the flagship Community
Health Planning Services
(CHPS) programme in the areas
of community participation,
infrastructure and financing, quality
service delivery by skilled health
staff, supervision and monitoring,
and surveillance and disease control
i. work with the private sector to
establish a world class Research
& Laboratory Centre within a
responsive National Laboratory
System
j. improve the drug supply chain by
expanding rapidly local production
and ensuring quality affordable
drugs are available
k. work with the private sector to
establish trauma centres within
hospitals along the main highways, in
order to facilitate medical treatment
of citizens in cases of accidents
l. make accessible, affordable and of
high quality the continuum of care a
woman experiences through fertility
34 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
HEALTH
period to delivery, including the
health of children
m. promoting good nutrition and
physical activity as a shared national
value
n. implementing a comprehensive plan
for the safe disposal of biomedical
waste
o. incorporating traditional medicine in
the health delivery system
p. improve efficiency to ensure limited
resources are used prudently, and
make sure existing hospitals and
clinics are adequately supplied
with basic drugs, gloves, syringes,
oxygen, and anti-snake serum, many
of which are not even available in
some teaching hospitals.
q. recognising the increasing incidence
of cancers (childhood cancers,
breast cancer, cervical cancer,
prostate and other cancers) as a
national problem, establish centres
at all levels of our healthcare
delivery system for screening,
diagnosis, early detection and
prevention of these cancers, paid
for under the restructured and
revitalised NHIS.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 35
HEALTH

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
The NPP aims to create a society of fair
opportunities for all Ghanaians. Building on
the far-reaching social intervention policies of
the Kufuor-led NPP administration, such as
the National Youth Employment Programme
(NYEP), Capitation Grant, the National Health
Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Free Maternal
Care, Microfinance and Small Loan Centre
(MASLOC), Mass Cocoa Spraying Exercise,
Metro Mass Transit Transport Service, Ghana
School Feeding Programme (GSFP) and the
Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty
Programme (LEAP), the NPP will help create
a fair and inclusive society, which ensures
that all citizens share in the country’s wealth
and prosperity.
This will be achieved by establishing a
well-funded, functioning welfare system
which addresses the needs of the weak,
marginalised, vulnerable and socially
excluded.
What the NPP will do:
a. amend the Disability Act to bring
it into line with the UN Convention
on Disability, and pass appropriate
Legislative Instruments for the
implementation of the Mental Health
Act, 2012 (Act 846) and the Disability
Act, 2006 (Act 715)
b. staff and properly resource the
National Council on Persons with
Disability (NCPD) in partnership
with civil society organisations,
decentralize it to the regional level,
enforce section 18 of the Disability
Act that provides for free education
for persons with disability, implement
the 3% increase in Common Fund
disbursements to persons with
disability, announced in 2012, but
which remains unimplemented, and
ensure that the portion of DACF
meant for persons with disability are
disbursed through the decentralized
district and regional offices of the
NCPD
c. refocus the LEAP programme, which
has become a blatant source of
political patronage, by, among other
things, adopting effective, accurate
means-testing to target, identify
and enrol properly beneficiary
households
d. institute measures to reduce the
administrative cost of the Ghana
School Feeding Programme (GSFP)
to the barest minimum, and stimulate
local agricultural growth, by requiring
caterers to buy and use foodstuff
grown locally from local farmers.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 37
e. mainstream aging issues into
national development frameworks
and poverty eradication strategies by
establishing a retirement scheme for:
- farmers (including ancillary farm
hands) in our major cash crop
agricultural sectors like cocoa,
coffee, sheanuts, palm oil,
pineapple and cashew nuts; and
- members of small scale
business associations included
in umbrella organizations such
as GPRTU/PROTOA, Association
of Small Scale Enterprises
(ASSE), mechanics (fitters) and
similar associations across the
country.
f. ensure that funds of the National
Pensions Regulatory Authority
(NPRA) are applied solely for
the development of the pensions
industry
g. fully implement section 103
(assignment of pension benefits
for housing of workers) of the
National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act
766)
h. pay all outstanding contributions
to pension funds, including Tier
2 contributions, for public sector
workers
i. use the appropriate information
technology platform to decentralize
and automate pension payments,
and establish desks in each District
Assembly for this purpose
j. provide the aged with a Freedom
Pass to enable them ride for free on
all public transportation
k. undertake a comprehensive review
of SSNIT’s investments and costs to
ensure its financial sustainability
l. appoint women to at least 30% of
available public office positions
m. set aside 50% of MASLOC funds for
female applicants
n. reduce the Kayayei (Head Porters)
phenomenon by:
- improving the economy of their
districts of origin to curb the
migration
- providing alternate life skills
training and seed capital, as well
as partnering the private sector,
NGOs and charities to provide
temporary hostel facilities
- working with the District
Assemblies to exempt Kayayei
from market tolls and taxes
currently imposed on them, and
- improving their access to
education and health care.
o. introducing a District Integrated
Social Services programme for
children, families and vulnerable
adults to consolidate the relevant
health, education, and justice
systems, as well as all social
protection programmes
38 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM GOVERNANCE,
CORRUPTION AND
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
The fundamental requirement for sustainable
development is good governance.
The NPP is irrevocably committed to the
establishment of a solid, efficient machinery
for good governance, comprising
accountable government and respect for the
rule of law and human rights.
What the NPP will do:
a. establish, by an Act of Parliament,
an Office of the Special
Prosecutor, who will be independent
of the Executive, to investigate and
prosecute certain categories of
cases and allegations of corruption
and other criminal wrongdoing,
including those involving alleged
violations of the Public Procurement
Act and cases implicating political
officeholders and politicians
b. enhance accountability in
governance by promoting the
effective separation of powers.
Adequate provision to secure the
independence of the Judiciary
will be made and we will help
to strengthen the institutional
capacity of Parliament to solidify
parliamentary oversight of the
Executive
c. require the President to within
14 days, forward a list of
appointments, made in pursuant
of Chapter 24 of the Constitution,
to the Auditor General, that
the Auditor General publish
periodically the list of all persons
appointed under Chapter 24 of the
Constitution and amend the law
relating to asset declaration to
provide for sanctions which may
include forfeiture of appointment
d. establish an automatic mechanism
for transfer of statutory funds to
designated agencies such as
the Ghana Education Trust Fund
(GETFund), District Assemblies
Common Fund (DACF) and NHIS as
stipulated by law
e. amend the relevant sections of the
Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act
29), particularly sections 3, 151,
and 239-257, to make corruption a
felony rather than a misdemeanour
f. reform laws to set time limits within
which an appointing authority must
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 39
fill any vacancy or confirm a person
acting in that office where that
institution has a watchdog role
g. ensure the passage of the Right
to Information bill if the present
Parliament delays in doing so
h. ensure the strict enforcement of the
Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act
663)
i. ensure transparency by establishing
a transaction price database,
which will be periodically reviewed to
conform to market trends
j. bring to an end the prevailing
regime of impunity, where people
found to have stolen or fraudulently
benefited from public funds are
merely requested by the Attorney
General to refund same on their
own terms or are sheltered at the
Office of the President, and also
ensure the implementation of the
recommendations of the Auditor
General and Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) of Parliament, and
k. sponsor the establishment of
an interactive website for public
reporting of corrupt practices
in accordance with the Whistle
Blower’s Act, 2006 (Act 720).
40 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
GOVERNANCE, CORRUPTION AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
The NPP is committed to bringing
governance to the doorsteps of the people.
We will focus on effective and efficient
decentralization through greater grassroots
participation, better planning and improved
service delivery in local communities.
What the NPP will do:
a. oversee the direct election
of Metropolitan, Municipal
and District Chief Executives
(MMDCEs) within 24 months of
election into office, to coincide with
the next District Assembly elections
in 2019
b. strengthen the sub-structures of
MMDAs through capacity building
and adequate resource allocation
c. strengthen the role of traditional
authorities within the local
government system, and
d. improve allowances paid to
assembly members.
e. upgrade the Tamale campus of
Institute of Local Government
Service (ILGS) into a modern
state-of the-art institute to train local
government practitioners and staff in
northern Ghana
f. abolishing the current practice of
central Government manipulation of
the DACF through the procurement
process
g. decentralizing and equipping the
Land Valuation Board (LVB) to
provide direct technical support on
property valuation to MMDAs for
enhanced revenue mobilization
h. ensuring the speedy enactment of
the Municipal Finance Bill, initiated
by the Kufuor-led NPP administration,
into law. This law will provide space
to MMDAs to access funds from
the capital market for rapid socio
economic development and partner
the private sector to provide job
opportunities to local people
i. ensure the consolidation of
all existing national sanitation
policies, plans and programmes
into a Comprehensive National
Sanitation Programme and Action
Plan, and establish a National
Sanitation Fund to fund this.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 41

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
SECURITY DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 43
The NPP Government will secure peace and
security for all Ghanaians. Under the NPP
Government, Ghanaians will feel safe on the
streets and in their homes. Ghanaians will
go about their daily business in the secure
knowledge that their persons, properties and
lives are safe under an NPP Government.
The NPP will ensure that our security
personnel are also adequately prepared to
deal with the emerging threats of terrorism
and cybercrime, which will be another major
priority of our government.
What the NPP will do:
a. as part of our overall commitment
to improving the living conditions
of our security personnel, the NPP
will roll out a National Barracks
Regeneration Programme that will
invest in rehabilitating and upgrading
their living quarters across the
country
b. review and restructure recruitment
into our police service to stamp out
the fraud and cronyism that have
been introduced into this process by
the Mahama-led NDC government
c. continue to recruit additional
personnel, with increased
recruitment of women, into the police
service, as we work towards the
target of meeting the U.N. ratio of
1:500 police to civilians
d. provide the police with modern
communication and policing
equipment
e. build two new police hospitals at
Sunyani and Bolgatanga to serve
the health needs of police personnel
f. build 2 new police training schools
g. harmonise and standardise police
training across the country, and
improve and resource all police
training institutions, including the
command college at Winneba
h. complete the third phase of the 37
Military Hospital project, as well
as upgrade its equipment to meet
modern medical challenges, having
constructed the second phase
i. construct a new military hospital
in Tamale to service the health
needs of military personnel and their
families in the northern sector of the
country
j. continue local and foreign training for
Armed Forces personnel
44 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
SECURITY
k. commit to adjusting upwards their
peacekeeping allowances in line with
new increases by the UN
l. ensure that personnel who serve in
UN Peacekeeping Missions are paid
at their duty post
m. take immediate steps to decongest
our prisons, and introduce a system
to separate remand and convicted
inmates, reform pre-trial detention,
prison management, sentencing,
including non-custodial sentences,
social integration, and health
facilities for prisoners, prison officers
and civilian employees
n. offer competitive remuneration to
enable the Security Services attract
the best personnel
o. build two Prison Service hospitals,
one each in the Southern and
Northern sectors of the country.
p. provide each district with a Fire
Service station where none exists.
Where there is one, the NPP will
upgrade it as required to meet the
minimum standards expected of a
modern, well-equipped fire station
q. in recognition of their multiple roles,
and also as part of the NPP’s aim
to grow rapidly our tourism and
hospitality sector, we shall pay
particular attention to the training
and incentivisation of the personnel
of the Immigration Service. In
particular, we will offer extensive
training in specialist areas in the
growing areas of crime detection
and prevention, customer service
relations, and trends in global crossborder
crimes and anti-terrorism
tactics. We will also provide modern
and strategic equipment to make
them more efficient, as well as
offering competitive remuneration to
enable the Service attract the best
personnel
r. introduce a robust and
comprehensive anti-narcotic drug
and anti-organised crime policy with
severe sanctions and penalties to
serve as deterrence for potential
offenders. Our overall plan will
concentrate on six (6) key areas:
education, prevention, collaboration,
detection, sanctions and
rehabilitation, as well as strengthen
the country’s detection institutions
and systems, and
s. take all necessary measures to
curb the proliferation of small arms
and light weapons, and enforce
laws on their illegal possession,
manufacturing and trade.
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 45
Our foreign policy will be one of the
principal agents of Ghana’s socio-economic
resurgence. The NPP will improve on the
efficiency and effectiveness of our foreign
missions. We will redirect their emphasis to
the search for economic opportunities with
the view to opening markets for Ghanaian
goods, while attracting foreign investments
into the Ghanaian economy.
What the NPP will do:
a. review existing policies to take into
account the new world order with
respect to developments like Brexit
and the emergence of the BRICS
nations
b. prioritise the development of
economic opportunities in our foreign
policy, by opening up markets
abroad for Ghanaian goods and
services and attracting foreign
investments
c. task our diplomatic missions to
link our businessmen with foreign
counterparts in strategic alliances
and partnerships to develop the
private sector, and to market the
country as an attractive destination
for foreign investment
d. put in place a policy framework that
would encourage those, who may
or may not have acquired other
citizenships, to bring their skills back
home to assist in the development of
our country
e. expand further the opportunities that
will allow Ghanaians living abroad
to participate fully in our national
discourse and benefit fully from the
opportunities this nation has to offer
by facilitating the implementation
of the Representation of The
People’s Law, 1992 (PNDCL 284),
as amended (alias ROPAL), and
f. the Diaspora Affairs Bureau will
also be moved from the Foreign
Ministry to the Office of the President
to coordinate more effectively all
matters affecting Ghanaians in the
diaspora.

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
YOUTH AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
The youth will drive the discovery of new
technologies, innovation and growth in
the future. NPP’s national youth policy is
designed to help shape our youth for this role
through developing leadership skills, quality
education, entrepreneurship, job skills,
creative skills and sports. We will create an
enabling environment to build the capacity
of our youth to take on more active roles in
our country’s future and its development.
What the NPP will do:
a. set up a Youth Development
Authority (YDA) to harmonise and
coordinate all government-sponsored
youth initiatives and policies
b. establish a Youth Enterprises Fund
(YEF) that will provide funding and
business development services
for businesses owned by young
entrepreneurs, especially start-ups
c. develop industrial parks in
all regions targeting young
Ghanaians, who start or wish to
start small businesses, to provide
them with access to workspaces,
equipment and basic services,
including electricity and water
d. implement our proposed policy that
ensures businesses established by
young entrepreneurs under the Youth
Enterprise Fund (YEF) participate in
bidding for the 30% of the required
70% of Government-funded
contracts to be sourced from entities
owned by women, persons with
disability and young persons
e. offer tax incentives to young
entrepreneurs to encourage them to
initiate start-ups
f. introduce tax credits and other
incentives for companies that hire
young graduates from tertiary
institutions
g. concentrate on ICT training to create
job avenues locally and offshore for
our youth
h. institute a Buy-Local policy for
Government agencies with regards
to ICT to ensure that applications
and software are procured from local
ICT firms
i. enact the comprehensive Sports
Bill initiated under President Kufuor
j. develop in partnership with the
private sector, Youth Development
& Sports Centres in all Regions.
Each centre will house a fully-
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 47
equipped library, ICT hub, social hall,
multi-purpose pitches and courts
k. complete the construction of the
University of Ghana stadium started
by the Kufuor-led NPP government
l. pursue the vision of providing
modern multi-sport stadia for the
regions currently without one,
namely Brong Ahafo, Eastern,
Upper East, Upper West and Volta
m. establish three sports colleges in
collaboration with the private sector
n. develop a Youth in Sports module
to support young sportsmen
and women and to create job
opportunities for them
o. invest in a special Women-In-
Sports programme to help unearth
and support female athletes and
sports talents across the country,
and
p. award scholarships to promising
young athletes so they can develop
in the best of environments.
48 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
YOUTH AND SPORTS
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM TOURISM, CULTURE AND
CREATIVE ARTS
The NPP government will focus on
transforming the country into a major
Meeting, Incentive, Conference, & Exhibition
(MICE) centre, as well as on expanding
the tourism sector, through investment,
innovation, the pursuit of service excellence
and meaningful partnerships. This will
enable tourism to become a major revenuegenerating
sector that provides safe,
memorable and enjoyable experience for
tourists.
What the NPP will do:
a. aggressively develop our tourist
sites to bring them to world-class
standards, complete with the
requisite amenities and facilities
b. pursue a deliberate marketing
programme to promote our unique
historical sites, flora and fauna,
waterfalls and other cultural artefacts
c. take the staffing of these tourist
sites and our hospitality industry
as a whole seriously. To improve
professionalism in the sector, we
will partner with the private sector to
set up a state-of-the-art hospitality
teaching facility, with an operational
hotel, classrooms, kitchens, library,
and dormitories
d. encourage local communities to take
ownership and be invested in the
sustainability of tourist attractions
in their localities, The NPP will
champion a revenue-sharing
programme to inject 5% of tourism
revenues from fees of welldeveloped
tourist attractions into
local community projects
e. promote domestic tourism, by
making it an aggressive plank of our
tourism strategy with a marketing
drive centred on entrenching a
tourism culture among Ghanaians
f. review and actively implement the
Culture Policy developed under
the Kufuor-led NPP government to
give our culture pride of place in our
national development
g. build a detailed inventory of all our
cultural assets, so the nation has a
database of these assets
h. the Copyright Act 2005 (Act 690),
among other provisions, provides for
the protection of Adinkra symbols
and the older Kente designs as
expression of folklore. The NPP will
ensure that the provisions regarding
the protection of Kente and Adinkra
designs are strictly enforced against
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 49
illicit exploitation by foreign interests,
to enable the country maximize
revenue through the proper
marketing of these heirlooms.
i. establish a Creative Arts Fund to
make available funds to modernize
and develop the sector
j. create a Division of the High Court,
focusing on the Creative Arts
to deal with all matters relating to
intellectual property rights, complete
with a dedicated enforcement unit
k. establish a Creative Arts Council
to coordinate and harmonize the
various interests and fragmented
associations into a well-functioning
body to protect the interests of
members
l. collaborate with private sector
interests to acquire the technology
and equipment needed to log
creative works, in order to determine
true and deserved royalties
m. promote regional and district
literature, music, dance and drama
competitions, particularly in schools
and colleges
n. pursue the construction of modern
large seating theatres in every
regional capital except Accra,
beginning with Takoradi, Tamale and
Kumasi, as well as setting up an
additional Copyright Office in Tamale
to cater for the northern sector in
addition to the existing ones in Accra
and Kumasi.
50 New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016
TOURISM, CULTURE AND CREATIVE ARTS
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
CHIEFTAINCY, RELIGIOUS
AFFAIRS AND CIVIL
SOCIETY
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • HIGHLIGHTS of Manifesto for Election 2016 51
The NPP will give due deference to Chiefs as
the embodiment of the history and traditions
of our people and will support the Chieftaincy
institution to preserve, sustain and employ
the traditional and cultural values, as well
as practices that accelerate wealth creation
and social harmony for total development.
What the NPP will do:
a. ensure the prompt payment of
royalties and Consolidated Fund
dusbursements due Chiefs, Queen
Mothers and Traditional Councils to
enable them carry out their functions
b. provide government support to
the institution of Chieftaincy in the
performance of their duties, their
evolution and further modernization
c. support the National House of Chiefs
to codify and systematize traditional
laws and culture
d. consult traditional authorities on
appointments to local government
institutions
e. continue to engage actively religious
organizations as the leading moralcultural
institutions that have a key
role in moulding the character and
conduct of our citizens
f. ensure that religious bodies in the
health sector receive their NHIS
payments promptly and we commit
to payments of existing debts
expeditiously
g. launch a new era of cooperation
and collaboration with civil society to
improve governance and enhance
the well-being of Ghanaians. We will
work to ensure that the community
develops and thrives
h. create the enabling legislative
and economic environment for
philanthropy to blossom and promote
a new era of giving, knowing that a
prosperous Ghana makes it easier
for individuals and organisations to
support civil society, and
i. concentrate on interventions that will
unleash the potential of all, including
the vulnerable, weak and excluded,
particularly women, children and
PLWDs. We will protect their rights
and eradicate or reform harmful,
inhumane and inimical cultural and
traditional practices.

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
New Patriotic Party (NPP) • Manifesto for Election 2016
CONCLUSION
The solutions we have set out in this document have been well- considered.
They are a response to the real problems faced by the Ghanaian people
as a result of the mismanagement, incompetence and corruption of the
Mahama-led NDC government.
This Manifesto is our commitment to the people of Ghana. It is a social
contract between ourselves and the people of Ghana. We aim to restore
hope and to get the country back to working again and relieve the
hardships of our people. The plans we have set out are for the long term
sustainable development of our country. With the help of the Almighty
God, the NPP will build in Ghana the most people friendly and the most
business friendly economy in Africa, which will create prosperity for
the great majority of our people, and thereby secure the stability of our
society and the peace of the nation.
We have an excellent team of men and women who are ready and eager
to serve our beloved Ghana. We have a well-thought out programme,
and we have a track record of good performance in government. So
support us and together, let’s get Ghana working again.
The future is bright.
God bless Ghana, God bless us all.
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM