A recent research by the Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment has flagged the clarity of vision and inclusiveness of the socio-economic policies promised by the two leading parties of the 2024 General Elections.
The research report reveals that there are critical gaps in the clarity of vision and inclusivity of the manifesto promises of both the NPP and NDC.
The study dubbed ACEYE Public Policy Value rating was aimed at exploring the relationship between the priorities and expectations of the electorates and the promises by the two leading parties as well as identifying deficiencies. The research report was launched at a Press Conference by the CEO, Emmanuel Acquah in Accra last week.
The study engaged electorates to rate the socio-economic policies of the two parties which were Economy and Finance, Digitalization and ICT, Entrepreneurship and Employment, Infrastructure Development, Health, and Education across seven (7) indicators.
These indicators were Employability, Sustainability & feasibility, Measurability, Value for Money, Inclusiveness, Allocative Efficiency, and Vision Clarity.
The findings of the research reveal that the inclusiveness indicator, which measures whether policies address the needs of diverse groups, incorporate public input, and provide mechanisms for citizen feedback yielded an alarmingly low score.
The NDC scored 28.6% while the NPP also scored 28% for most of the socio-economic policies signifying that the promises failed to prioritize the needs of marginalized groups, the vulnerable, and other underprivileged social groupings.
Vision clarity which was an indicator to measure how well the two parties have communicated their manifesto promises to resonate with the electorates, also obtained an alarmingly low score from respondents.
Both parties obtained the same score of 13.9% to emerge as an indicator with the lowest scores.
However, the performance of both parties on indicators such as Sustainability & Feasibility and Employability were moderately okay.
Source: ACEYE, 2024
This low scores in the findings, the center says are a reminder that policies must address the needs of all citizens and not just a privileged few.
“When policies are not inclusive, they fail to achieve their full potential. Inclusiveness must not be treated as an afterthought but as a foundational principle of governance,” CEO of the Center, Emmanue Acquah said in the report.
Moreover, the low scores in vision clarity for both parties, ACEYE says suggest a need for clearer communication of policy goals and implementation plans so that electorates can resonate with them.
ACEYE recommends that “Abridged versions of manifestos written in plain language for easy comprehension by all citizens, regardless of their educational background. These abridged versions should clearly outline the proposed policies with actionable steps and expected outcomes.”
In addition, going forward, there should be the establishment of feedback mechanisms to allow citizens to assess and influence policies based on their outcomes and also the prioritization of equitable distribution of resources to reduce regional and social inequalities to deal with the low inclusivity challenge of the policies.
