Mr Goosie Obuadum Tandoh, the Presidential Adviser on the 24-Hour Economy, has called on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to develop a communication strategy to manage public expectations while staying true to its fundamental promises.
He noted that Ghanaians generally understood the current challenges of the country and were willing to endure if they could see a workable plan to deal with the problems scientifically and rationally. “Ghanaians are willing to cope with the difficulty if we tell the obvious truth repeatedly, in terms and ways that speak to their lived experiences,” he said.
Mr Tandoh was speaking at a conference on the Transition from Elections to Governance in Ghana, jointly organised by the African Centre for Governance and Economic Management and the Friedrich Egbert Stiftung on Wednesday.
The programme, on the theme: “From Election to Governance in Ghana: Managing the Results,” was attended by representatives of academia, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the NDC.
Mr Tandoh explained that the communication plan should not be the occasional statements from Flagstaff House or party headquarters but a well-thought-out strategic plan that uses all the media resources of the state and the private sector to keep people informed.
The message should also lead to making changes, in discussing targets and performance, and ensuring that citizens feel heard by leadership and were part of resolving the crisis and the problems, which challenge everybody.
“Ghanaians are willing to work with government rather than against it if the signs are clear that government share their pain rather than feeding fat from its pampered elite bubbles,” Mr Tandoh noted. He said government appointees, using 4×4 vehicles with dark screens and motorcades, blowing dust on employees struggling to get a secured transportation to and from work, would not serve the NDC well.
He called for the remobilisation of the party to take ownership of government programmes and drive them to the local and community levels, “in farmer cooperatives, in trade associations, in industry chambers, on the shop floor and in boardrooms.”
“My point, if not already obvious, is that the first step in developing our mandate today as NDC is urgent party reform so the NDC once again can play its intended role in national mobilisation and not wither away as an electoral machine.” On the issue of accountability, Mr Tandoh urged the party to keep its promises regarding the improvement in governance from the Flagstaff House down to the lower levels of the assembly system.
“We must not send signals that NDC officials are or consider themselves to be above the law” he said. The Flagstaff House must also not be seen as a clearinghouse for insiders who misconducted themselves nor intervene in publicly constituted investigation nor prosecutorial decisions.
Source: GNA
