Sammy Gyamfi Reveals How NDC Will Fund Its 2020 Manifesto Promises

Politics of Friday September 11, 2020

Source: Peace FM

2020-09-11

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Many Ghanaians, including Policy Think Tank, IMANI Africa, have asked the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to reveal their funding plan for some of the promises made in their manifesto.

NDC flag bearer John Mahama has communicated his intention in his 2020 manifesto called “The People’s Manifesto” to create jobs and implement an industrialization plan when he is elected in the December 7 general election.

He has also promised that members of the Assembly will receive salaries from the government if the NDC returns to power.

In response to how all the promises made to Ghanaians will be financed, the party’s Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has explained how the party will generate funds in pursuit of its transformative agenda.

In a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, Sammy Gyamfi said; “Governance is about priorities and options. The Akufo Addo government decided to spend the unprecedented resources it has had on consumer-related expenses. We, on the other hand, have chosen to spend the resources that will accrue for the next NDC / Mahama government on infrastructure and productive initiatives for the benefit of all Ghanaians. We have done it before and we will do it again ”.

“To achieve the ‘big push’, for example, the NDC government will follow this track record and redirect resources largely towards development infrastructure and therefore increase the CAPEX-to-GDP ratio from the current low 1.2% to more than 4% as was the case in 2016 under Mahama’s administration, ”reads a part of the statement.

Read the full statement below:

NDC 2020 Manifesto Promises: Where will we get the money from?

For those wondering how the next NDC / Mahama government will fund the transformation policies and programs in our Peoples’ Manifesto, please note that:

1. The main reason the Akufo Addo government has so few development projects to showcase is not because they have not had access to adequate resources. In fact, no government in Ghana’s history has been as lucky as Akufo Addo’s government in terms of the astronomical money that has been available to him, a total resource endowment of approximately GHS 374 billion, which is almost double of available resources. for the old Mahama government (GHS193 billion).

Despite this, President Mahama, with significantly less resources, has completely overshadowed the nuclear power plant in all sectors when it comes to our country’s vital development infrastructure. This shows the NDC’s superior track record of delivering the most with the least resources.

Governance is about priorities and options. The Akufo Addo government decided to spend the unprecedented resources it has had on consumer-related expenses. We, on the other hand, have chosen to spend the resources that will accrue for the next NDC / Mahama government on infrastructure and productive initiatives for the benefit of all Ghanaians. We have done it before and will do it again.

2. Despite the fact that in 3 and a half years the PNP has borrowed and added to the Public Debt, almost 140 billion GHS, much more than Ghana’s total debt from the Kwame Nkrumah era to 2016 (120 billion GHS), the percentage of capex as a percentage of our GDP, has decreased from 4.5% in 2016 under the Mahama administration to just 1.2%. This again shows the superior ability of the NDC to do much better with the resources available. Provide much greater development for Ghana by channeling more resources towards infrastructure and productive initiatives, generating sustainable growth, jobs, prosperity and more, as opposed to the nuclear power plant that focuses on consumption and waste.

3. To achieve the ‘big push’, for example, the NDC government will follow this track record and redirect resources largely towards development infrastructure and thus increase the ratio of CAPEX to GDP of the low 1.2% current to more than 4%, as was the case in 2016 under the Mahama administration.

4. The $ 10 billion for the big push may sound like a lot, but when we recall that between 2013 and 2016, the Mahama administration channeled around $ 6 billion to development infrastructure in Ghana, there is no question about NDC’s ability to do so.

5. If we could do so much for the country with a single oil field (Jubilee field), which in 2016 was not even producing at full capacity, imagine what we can do with three (3) oil fields, two of which arose as a result John Mahama’s leadership and investments in the oil and gas sector. The next NDC / Mahama government will channel a greater percentage of our oil revenues towards massive production and development projects.

6. Over the years, the NDC has demonstrated massive creativity in how we so competently created the environment that it enabled several organizations to become so financially strong that they were able to use their own balance sheet to obtain loans without the people of Ghana had to bear the burden of paying off those debts. For example, under the Mahama administration, parastatals such as:

a) The Ghana Ports and Ports Authority was able to raise US $ 1.5 billion without government guarantee for the Tema port expansion project.

b) The Ghana airport company used a similar funding mechanism to raise around $ 300 million for the famous KIA Terminal 3 and other projects because their balance sheet was significantly improved by our decision to give them 100% of their IGF, a decision that has taken over the nuclear power plant. reversed since 2017.

C) The $ 500 million Ameri power plant is another one of those innovative financing deals (BOOT).

7. We also have a history of having the ingenuity to establish the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), an important mechanism that enables us to raise global funding for major infrastructure to transform the country without burdening the taxpayer.

* We had the creativity to establish the EXIM Bank of Ghana in order to become an export competitive economy, the same bank that the nuclear power plant is using to partially finance its so-called 1D1F without giving credit to President Mahama who established it. .

* GETFUND is yet another example of our ability to think outside the box and create financing mechanisms for productive infrastructure developments.

So the NDC has done it before and can do it again when given the opportunity.

8. To achieve this, we will cancel the unpleasant cap and realignment policy to improve the finances of state and parastatal companies so that they can undertake strategic infrastructure and development projects.

9. Finally, we will resolutely protect the income and royalties of our beloved country through:

i) stop corrupt schemes like the Agyapa deal.

ii) reduce the number of ministries and the number of ministers: the record of 125 ministers and more than 1000 presidential employees will be significantly reduced and the savings will be channeled towards productive initiatives for the benefit of all Ghanaians and not a select opinion.

iii) reduce wasteful and wasteful expenditures, as currently corresponds to the Office of Government Machinery.

Iv) waging a brutal war against corruption through Operation Sting to save the billions that the country is currently losing through corruption and to the detriment of our development.

10. We will also employ advanced technology to enhance and maximize revenue mobilization through strict tax compliance, expansion of the tax network, and efficient revenue mobilization.

These are just a few of the far-reaching and forward-thinking means that the next NDC / Mahama government will adopt to properly generate and utilize our resources in pursuit of our bold and transformative agenda.

We have done it before and we know how to do it. John Mahama and the NDC have the track record and therefore can be trusted to deliver again.

SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ.
National Communication Officer, NDC