Bawumia lists 8 priorities of next NPP government

As Ghana’s 2020 election campaign enters its last lap, the running-mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has made a strong case for another term in office.

Another four years, he said would help the NPP consolidate the gains it had made in the last four years under the tenure of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Vice President was the final speaker for the Nation Building Updates, a government programme for showcasing achievements in the last four years of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In this 12th edition, Dr Bawumia beyond touting the achievements of the governments also baited Ghanaians with what to expect from the next NPP administration.

• We will continue to stimulate growth through investments in the real sector of the economy, particularly in agriculture and digitization.

•  We will support industrialization and accelerate our efforts in agriculture modernization, provide support for farmers and improve linkages with industry mainly through 1D1F.

•  Consolidate the implementation of free senior high school( SHS) and Free TVET programmes. We are going to make it possible for all SHS graduates who pass and want to go to the university or other tertiary institutions to do so. For any student who has the qualifying grades and does not have money to pay his/her university fees government will pay the fees through a student loan scheme without guarantors. All that the student will need to access this loan is a GhanaCard.

•  Focus on health promotion and prevention as part of the primary health care programme. Deliver on the largest healthcare infrastructure investment by any government since independence (under Agenda 111), construct infectious disease centres in the coastal, middle and northern belts of the country, among others.

•  Provide one of the most ambitious housing programmes in the country from renting to low income and middle-income housing through private-public partnerships.

•  Provide at least one model school for Zongo communities in each region. We are obviously not going to build mortuaries for the Zongos but rather schools.

• We will establish a National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS). In partnership with the private sector, the Scheme will provide low-interest loans to eligible Ghanaians to enable them to pay rent advance.

• In the next four years, we plan to build a digital services economy through the expansion of the Ghana Innovation Hub project to nurture startups to accelerate the development of applications software, provide regional e-backroom services, and enterprise-level software. We will digitize the land registry next year to enable automation in the registration of land as well as checking of title to land.