President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has requested the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to clarify some policies captured in their 2020 manifesto and plans on how they will be executed.
The policy Think tank indicated that how the policies will be funded should be clearly stated for all and sundry
Speaking in an interview, Franklin Cudjoe considered it a minus as the Big Push captured in the manifesto didn’t have any clear funding.
“If I listen to the tenor of their argument, they haven’t mentioned how they are going to do that – which is a minus. But there is a clear intent that they may raise money from private sources as well. And I think by doing so, they may have to ensure that the management of this asset is in tandem with the private sector because you can’t allow this perpetual abandonment of projects to go on forever. I think they may have to tell us exactly how they may raise the capital.
“I can suggest a few things. They can look at the pension fund because it is very easy to raise close to GHS2 billion from the pension industry to do some of these things as far as they can pay for themselves. I think they should provide us with some ideas as to where they will get the money from. And if they are not able to do that, they should tell us what alternative they have.”
John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer, announced a $10 billion accelerated infrastructural plan, dubbed the Big Push, in his manifesto which according to him is intended to provide jobs and execute an industrialization plan when elected in December 2020.
Similarly, there has been a promise on his part to put Assembly Members on salaries which will be from the government if the NDC returns to power.
Reacting to this statement, Franklin Cudjoe advised that the move can be a nonstarter because there are presently no clear checks on the efficiency of such local representatives.
“They need to explain that to us because if the idea is to pay Assembly Members, it must be generated by the local assembly and I think that is what should be done. You can’t just be dishing out money from the centre to anybody who may or may not need it. If it is generated internally then they may be able to apportion a bit to these people. They must show they are working anyway. If they are working then automatically you generate revenue. You can’t be distributing salaries for no proper work done. Whatever payment they make to the Assemblymen should come from economic activity or industry”.
