Make manifestoes public and accessible - NGM

Accra, Sept. 17, GNA - The New Ghanaian Movement (NGM), a political movement, on Wednesday called on political parties to make their manifestoes public and accessible to the electorate. The movement said it was surprised that with barely three months to the general elections, political parties, especially the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), had not made their manifestoes available for the electorate to access.

In a press statement issued in Accra, and signed by Mr Emmanuel Alangtura, Northern Region representative of the movement, the NGM stressed that although the People's National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People's Party (CPP) had come out with their manifestoes, they were inaccessible to voters. He said this was not good for both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC, which had major representatives in parliament, to withhold their manifestoes from the public. He asked why this vital aspect of the electioneering process was relegated to the background.

"The days when the electorates were taken for granted are over. The average voters are now worried about issues that concern them and are scrutinizing the policies of the various parties and would not necessarily be voting on party lines," Mr Alangtura said. He urged civil society organisations to rise up against the practice where political parties did not make themselves available through their manifestoes early enough. The NGM commended the PNC for being the first political party to outdoor its manifesto.