On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, a number of political groups joined forces to create an alliance aimed at challenging the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) duopoly that has dominated Ghana’s political landscape for over three decades.
Dubbed; the Alliance for Revolutionary Change (ARC), it is geared towards presenting Ghanaians with an alternative political group and a strong third force for the country's political discourse.
The new alliance is made of the Movement for Change (M4C), National Interest Movement (NIM), the Ghana Green Party (GGP), the 3rd Force Movement, Non-Alliance Voters Association of Ghana (NAVAG), the Ghana First Coalition (GFC), the Union Government, the Crusaders Against Corruption and the Ghana National Party (GNP) among others.
The Founder and Leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen was designated as the leader of the ARC.
During his speech, he outlined a six-point plan with which he would revive and positively transform Ghana’s socioeconomic situation.
He then called on all to rally behind the alliance and vote for him as the nation's first independent presidential candidate.
Below is his strategy:
- Ushering in a new type of Leadership: Leadership that is visionary, competent, accountable, transparent, action-oriented, results-driven, and compassionate. A Leadership that will fight corruption ruthlessly, lead by example, and not provide a safe haven for corrupt political appointees and other public officials.
2. Implementing transformational policies – Governance is about policymaking and execution. What Ghana needs now are transformational policies in all sectors namely, the Macro-economy; in the productive sectors, including industry, trade, agriculture, and tourism; in infrastructure development; in social services delivery, including health, education and sports; in the responsible management of our natural resources; and in progressive constitutional reforms in governance.
In this regard, it is worth noting that the Alliance has agreed unanimously to adopt the Great Transformational Plan (GTP) of the Movement for Change as the Alliance’s Blueprint for Ghana’s Transformation.
3. Making Private Sector the Engine of Growth & Development – The development of the most powerful economies in the world has been anchored on, and driven by a vibrant private sector, strongly supported by
Government. The Private sector in Ghana including Small and Medium Enterprises must be the agents of the transformation of our economy.
4. Building a United Ghana – The divisiveness in our body politic driven by the duopoly of the two dominant parties, the NPP and NDC, has been the major destabilizing factor for progress in Ghana. To overcome this, there is an urgent and critical need for a new political system that moves Ghana beyond the duopoly. This is the only way we can build a truly representative government, eliminate the current “winner takes all syndrome”, ensure the continuity of the execution of government projects, and avoid the arrogance associated with political power and influence. To facilitate this process, Ghana will require a leader who is elected not on the basis of his or her association with a political party, but who is elected on his own merit, and can build consensus among all Ghanaians irrespective of their political affiliation. This is the main rationale for electing an Independent Candidate as President of Ghana.
5. Putting Young People & Women at the Centre of our National Development Agenda – Ghana has a young population with 73% of its population under the age of 35 years. We cannot as a nation reap the demographic dividend, without focusing on this group that represents the future of our country. In a similar vein, women constitute over 50% of the population. They constitute the largest section of our trading and farming communities and in many cases, are the breadwinners in our households. Gender mainstreaming must therefore be a development imperative, if we want to exploit the full potential of our female human resource.
6. Inspiring a Revolutionary Change in the Mindset and Behavior of Ghanaians – The lack of progress in the development of our country could to a large extent, be attributed to attitudes and behaviours that are not conducive to transformation. The indiscipline, lack of respect for rule of law, and the inordinate clamour for wealth, is a cancer in Ghanaian society. For Ghana to transform, we need first to transform our mindsets.