Checkout the 15 key policy reform proposals made to political parties’ manifesto committees by the CSO Alliance
The CSO Alliance – an alliance of Civil Society Organizations comprising four coalitions and eight organizations – working tirelessly in Ghana’s extractives and environmental governance sectors, has made 15 key policy reform proposals to political parties in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.
The policy reforms espoused at a press briefing on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, followed the CSO Manifesto Dialogue with the various political parties at the Royal Senchi Resort Hotel.
The dialogue brought together manifesto committee representatives from political parties such as the NPP, NDC, Movement for Change, CPP, Liberal Party of Ghana, and PPP.
The Dialogue was mainly to provide valuable insights in the areas of energy transition; upstream/downstream petroleum & gas sector; forestry, environment & climate change; mining, and anti-corruption from the perspective of CSOs to influence the manifestos of the various political parties in the run-up the 2024 elections.
Below are the 15 key policy reforms proposed to the various political parties by the CSO Alliance:
- The next government should commit to more ambitious transition timelines and be more deliberate in its efforts at attracting investments into the renewable energy sector while ensuring justice and equity. Specifically, oil and gas companies operating in Ghana should be incentivized to consider investing in the downstream beneficiation activities in the green minerals sector.
- The next government should leverage the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2015 (Act 815) to finance the Energy Transition agenda, as development of alternative energy sources (often interpretated as Renewable Energy) is one of 12 priority areas outlined in the PRMA. Parties must also commit to revisiting the stalled process of amending the PRMA.
- The next government must leverage the country’s vast forests and corporate-sponsored afforestation initiatives to obtain carbon credits from other nations or large emitting companies through carbon trading. This is key for raising additional finance to invest in R&D in green technologies. Ghana’s potential to sequester, including planned interventions by some oil companies operating in the country, must be evaluated for this purpose and have a national policy developed to guide implementation.
- The next government should activate Article 15 of Ghana’s Petroleum Agreement which emphasizes domestic supply requirements for crude oil to domestic refineries to enhance upstream and downstream synergy while ensuring economic stability, reduction in oil importation, job creation and efficiency within the oil and gas sector.
- The next government should commit to addressing the gas sector indebtedness by improving efficiency in the power sector and reforming the corporate governance of SOEs in these sectors.
- The next government should also commit to fostering institutional alignment in the gas sector and provide innovative financing for gas infrastructure to enhance gas monetization and the effective use of gas as a transition fuel.
- The next government should commit to establishing a Youth Green Fund to provide loans on favorable terms and incentivize financial institutions to invest in youth-led green startups.
- The next government should commit to enhanced collaboration between the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to align Ghana’s industrialization agenda.
- The next government should commit to tackling illegal mining and its associated gold smuggling, illicit financial flows, money laundering and financing of serious organized crimes (SOC).
- The next government should commit to Regulatory Simplification: Review registration and regulatory processes to reduce bureaucratic barriers for green startups.
- The next government should commit to Green Incubation Hubs: Create incubation hubs to provide support services like mentorship and training for green startups.
- The next government should commit to amending the Public Procurement Act to require procurement entities to proactively publish the full contract documents on their websites. It should also tighten the rules around single-source procurement, requiring higher-level approvals and detailed justifications. The amendment should introduce mandatory annual procurement performance reports by all public entities, published and reviewed by an independent body.
- The next government should commit to political parties and campaign financing reforms including enforcing existing disclosure requirements in the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574) and expanding them to cover candidates at all levels (Presidential, Parliamentary, Assembly).
- The next government should commit to prioritizing the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers Bill which includes provisions on Asset Declaration and Conflict of Interest.
- The next government should commit to providing a funding mechanism for research and advocacy for civil society organisations to enhance their role in nation-building.
CSOs and organizations that make up the CSO Alliance include; the Institute for Energy Security, Ghana Integrity Initiative, Centre for Extractives and Development Africa, A Rocha Ghana, Natural Resources Governance Institute, Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, UK Ghana Gold Programme, Strategic Youth Network for Development Ghana, KASA Initiative Ghana, Renewable Energy Association of Ghana, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition and Ecocare Ghana.
