By Deborah Asantewaah SARFO
The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande has assured citizens of his willingness to push for the establishment of a health fund in the party’s 2024 manifesto.
He explained that while he remains committed to the health policy such as establishing a health fund to respond to essential cases, he would communicate with the party’s leadership to introduce the setting up of an emergency health fund in their manifesto.
“In this whole conversation, you have seen our commitments in terms of health care transformation. We will not only establish, I will check with my leader, the flag bearer.
“If this is not in the manifesto, I will speak with wisdom to carry out this on behalf of the people. I commit to the health emergency fund, subject to a conversation with the leadership of the president,” he said.
Mr. Gbande made this known while responding to some questions raised by citizens at the National Level Dialogue program, an initiative of SEND Ghana aimed at gathering the inputs of citizens across the northern and southern zones in the development of a social sector manifesto titled “Towards a More Equitable Society: The Citizens Social Sector Manifesto 2024”.
Additionally, the initiative serves as a platform for representatives from the leading parties in the country to show how they plan to address social sector pressing issues in their party manifestoes.
For his part, the Deputy General Secretary of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, emphasised that they are committed to establishing a fund for essential services adding that “public health is an important aspect that every government would wish to champion”.
“We are committed to any public health provision and to set emergencies where we will be able to provide essential services and we have demonstrated the same during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. Mohammed said.
On the subject of the Affirmative Action Bill, both representatives of the leading parties underscored the significant roles of women in leadership, highlighting the specific policies within their party’s structure that support women who aspire to take up leadership roles.
“Today, the high office of a running mate who is potentially the first female vice president of Ghana is your sister and a woman. That demonstrates the NDC’s commitment to the affirmative bill to the highest level,” Mr. Gbande noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mohammed emphasised that he is concerned about the “effective implementation of the bill” and not necessarily passage adding that “it is not just about choosing the women is about utilising them”.
