With a few days to the crucial 2024 General Elections, a study by the Africa Center for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) has revealed that the electorates are highly prioritizing manifesto promises in the areas of Economy and Digitalization & ICT.
The study dubbed Public Policy Value Rating, ACEYE says sought to ascertain the link between the campaign promises of the two major contenders of the elections and the priorities and values of Ghanaian electorates.
ACEYE, through the anonymous study, spoke to the electorates to find out what the manifesto promises of the two parties mean to them and also if they meet their socio-economic dreams and aspirations.
The manifestoes of both parties were broken down into five key themes which are; Entrepreneurship & Employment, Economy and Finance, Infrastructure Development, Digitalization & ICT, and Health & Education.
The policies of these sectors for both parties were rated by the respondents across 7 indicators; vision clarity, inclusiveness, measurability, value for money, allocative efficiency, sustainability & feasibility, and employability.
Based on these 7 seven indicators, the respondents rated the five key sector policies of the NPP and the NDC from 1 to 100 indicating that the higher the ratings, the higher the value or priority Ghanaians place on the manifesto promise.
The research report cited by The High Street Journal reveals that respondents rated the Economic and Financial Manifesto promises very high indicating very high value or priority. The incumbent NPP’s economic and financial promises were rated 91.4% while that of the opposition NDC was rated 88.6%.
Source: ACEYE, 2024
The manifesto promises of both parties in the areas of Digitalization and ICT were equally rated very high signifying that Ghanaians put a premium on digitization promises. The two parties scored 91.4% in this area.
However, other policies in the areas of Entrepreneurship & Employment, Infrastructure Development, and Health & Education were moderately rated with all scoring below 50%.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ACEYE, Emmanuel Acquah in presenting the report on on Thursday, November 28, 2024, noted that despite the high value Ghanaians place on Economic, Finance, and Digitization, critical scrutiny reveals that the implementation may encounter challenges.
The sustainability, feasibility, employability, allocative efficiency, and clarity of vision among others of these manifesto promises were found to be questionable by the respondents.
The findings give a sense of what Ghanaians prioritize and expect the next government to focus on to positively impact the socio-economic lives of the public. This also suggests that the electorate is prioritizing policies that directly impact their financial stability and access to digital services, reflecting growing public demand for economic reforms and technological advancement.
