Ghana, one of Africa’s most stable democracies goes to the polls in December 2020 to elect a president and lawmakers. It is the eighth consecutive vote that has been held since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992.
Electioneering has undoubtedly evolved over the years. One of the main assets of campaigns being manifestoes – the document based on which party aspirations are laid out and with which they are held accountable periodically.
The 2020 campaign is no different, with the two major parties having unveiled their manifestoes. The issues therein as usual span service and infrastructure delivery promises and governance ideas and visions.
As a 2020 Paradigm Initiative digital rights fellow, this writer zones in on the digital footprints of opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC; led by former president John Dramani Mahama.
A digital start
Right from the get-go; the manifesto’s introduction message pledges “digital transformation,” whiles in his foreword candidate Mahama says: “we must build a knowledge-based economy and move faster into the new world of smart manufacturing and digital services.”
The word “digital” appears a total of 44 times in different contexts throughout the 143-page document dubbed “Jobs, prosperity, and more – The People’s Manifesto.”
The areas of focus remained varied spanning the finance, education, health, creative arts, agriculture, the judiciary, government services, private sector, and digital inclusion sectors of the economy.
The NDC touts its achievement in the digital space during the first term of the Mahama administration (2016 – 2020) whiles promising largely to increase investment and support for people operating in the digital ecosystem.
One of the major promises in the document falls under the $10m Big Push infrastructure agenda under which the NDC is promising to “develop regional digital and innovation centers.”
The digital zone of the NDC manifesto
Still, under the Big Push umbrella, the NDC states its commitment to developing a digitally functional economy. “Undoubtedly digital infrastructure is the bedrock of every digital economy,” the party stressed.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, not only the weaknesses in Ghana’s health system but also its key deficiencies. These include gaps between the served and underserved on healthcare and delivery of other services.
“Ghana cannot be caught waiting. We must fully embrace digital technology but with efficiency, in order to build a knowledge-based economy.”
The highlight of the party’s “smart business, smart government services, and infrastructure” vision includes the following:
a. Build a national information highway
b. Make access to the internet universal and affordable by 2024
c. Create a digital economy development fund
d. Develop a digital Ghana masterplan
e. Ensure efficient transfer of digital technologies
Areas of legislation and data issues included in this section include the following:
a. Enhance Ghana’s Cloud readiness to encourage significant investments in and use of data centers
b. Enact and enforce a Critical National Infrastructure Act to regulate the laying of fiber, water pipes, and electricity lines alongside road construction.
c. Digitise and integrate diverse national databases to improve Government services and enhance customer satisfaction.
d. Support indigenous research into ICT technology, improvement, and innovation including automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data.
e. Strengthen the Data Protection Commission and the National Information Technology Agency, NITA.
f. Encourage open government data sharing to make information available to citizens.
There is room for digital innovation and inclusion in the areas of next-generation social infrastructure, health, education, and agriculture. The creative arts sector and the judiciary also get special mentions in the use of digital processes.
The cybercrimes slot
The section of cybersecurity rounds up the “digital zone” of the manifesto spelling out efforts the NDC will employ in the area of data protection and curbing of cyber-related crimes.
The party stresses its resolve to develop cybersecurity policies to protect critical information infrastructure, promises a strong protection regime for victims of cyber fraud.
Setting up cybercrime units within the police service along with national and regional cyber labs.
The digital gospel has indeed hit home among major political stakeholders. The main opposition has given enough room for the gospel in its manifesto spanning infrastructure boost, digital inclusion, and critically the burgeoning area of data protection.
The role of civil society and the media will be key in keeping the party – and government – on track if it eventually wins.
“Civil society must track these promises and push politicians to implement as many of them as possible,” a digital rights activist told this writer.
As crucial as the digital space is, one wonders how many Ghanaians will vote on digital inclusion and other digital rights grounds. What is incontrovertible is the role of new media in the campaigns of respective parties.
Game on, may the best man win.
The writer, Abdul Rahman Shaban Alfa, is a 2020 Paradigm Initiative Digital Rights and Inclusion fellow. He is a digital journalist who writes on major digital rights trends across the continent.
Review: Digital markings in NPP’s 2020 manifesto
Ghanaians will be voting in December 2020 in general elections.
The keenly watched poll is a re-election bid for the two main candidates. Incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and former President John Dramani Mahama.
The winner will be serving their second and final term as president of one of Africa’s most stable democracies. The vote is the eighth consecutive since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992.
Important as electioneering campaigns and messaging are, they afford both parties and other contenders the opportunity to sell their political agenda.
As a 2020 Paradigm Initiative digital rights fellow, this writer zones in on the digital pledges in the manifesto of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP.
Setting tone for digital take-off
The NPP touts their achievements so far in the digital landscape and continues in the document to address areas they will consolidate and or introduce in the next term if they win the polls.
The word “digital” appears a total of 64 times in different contexts throughout the 216-page document dubbed “Leadership of Service: Protecting our Progress, Transforming Ghana for All.”
The first mention of the word digital is in the message from the president and flagbearer of the party which read in part: “We have embraced digital technology in the delivery of public services …”
In Part 5 of the document titled: Accelerating Growth and Transformation; the NPP dedicates an entire chapter to Digitisation and the Transformation of the Ghanaian Economy.
Specifically, it zoned in on the digitization journey and plans to build a digital services economy and to create a leading sub-regional digital hub.
Touting digital strides from 2016 – 2020
The government summarized its digital development areas as follows: improve the delivery of public service, formalize the economy, improve revenue mobilization, deepen and broaden inclusiveness in the development process, and curb bribery and corruption.
The Akufo-Addo-led government has since 2016 rolled out a number of digital processes in the delivery of government services. Some of the notable ones being the 2018 digital address system, digital driver’s license, and vehicle registration.
Others are the digitized process of obtaining building permits, reforms for court administration, and incremental development of the Ghana.gov portal as a one-stop-shop for digital payment and revenue mobilization.
In the education sector especially, the government also touted its efforts in digitizing libraries stating thus: “Through the Ghana Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), we provided students living with disability in selected tertiary institutions with assistive technology-enabled devices and training to promote their digital inclusion.”
Digitizing the health insurance system was also the other plank highlighted. The Digital Hub under which the Accra Digital Center falls is an area of innovation and enterprise for young developers that government promises to boost.
Plan, promises, and projects for 2020 – 2024
“Over the next four years, we will leverage on our existing digital infrastructure and make the necessary investments and policies to establish Ghana firmly as the digital services hub of West Africa,” the manifesto said.
In concrete terms, the NPP government promised to among others:
* Put in place generation of connected market infrastructure on which government and the economy can function.
* Rationalise the functions of bodies in the technology ecosystem and to streamline the legal and regulatory frameworks.
* Update Ghana’s spectrum policy and regulations to promote greater transparency, competitive and rapid expansion of internet services to rural areas.
* Establish a national data centre that centralizes all digital information and data storage, management, and protection.
* Increase broadband coverage, affordability of digital devices and explore innovations to ensure the visually impaired are not left out of the ongoing digital revolution plus increasing access and affordability of digital devices.
* Invest in human capital to build digital skills base, by continuing investments in teaching ICT from primary school.
* Undertake processes aimed at reducing the cost of data in Ghana. A gigabyte of data as of 2020 costs $0.94, making Ghana the country with the sixth cheapest rate in Africa.
* Other areas of interest include reduction of taxes on digital devices, lowering of the spectrum and license costs.
Digital investment makes a significant showing in the concluding chapter under the heading of “Transformation for a Ghana Beyond Aid,” the relevant portions read thus: “The coronavirus pandemic has reaffirmed our vision of building a Ghana Beyond Aid.”
“One of the pillars of which is to build a resilient economy with the financial strength to fund public services, and to ensure a strong Ghanaian presence and capacity across the supply and services value chains of all the major sectors.”
The cyberspace plans are largely limited, only reporting of successes in the first tenure. The government mentioned the setting up of the Computer Emergency Response Team with the National Communications Authority and also training police on cybersecurity.
Conclusion
The digital space clearly is of increasing interest to major political stakeholders in Ghana. Like the NDC, the incumbent party has given lots of space to the potential and game-changing impact of digital processes on general national life.
As reiterated by experts in the digital ecosystem, civil society and the media will be key in keeping successive governments in check to deliver on promises especially relative to legislation on digital rights and data protection.
“Civil society must track these promises and push politicians to implement as many of them as possible,” a digital rights activist told this writer.
As crucial as the digital space is, one wonders how many Ghanaians will vote on digital rights and other digital inclusion grounds.
Whiles at it, parties and candidates are busily using social media to sell their messages to the many Ghanaians with presence on and offline. Game on, may the best party win.
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The writer, Abdul Rahman Shaban Alfa, is a 2020 Paradigm Initiative Digital Rights and Inclusion fellow. He is a digital journalist who writes on major digital rights trends across Africa.
The post Review: Digital footprints in NPP, NDC’s 2020 manifesto [Article] appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana.
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