President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has strongly opposed suggestions to replace political party manifestos with a national development plan.

Addressing members of the National Development Planning Commission, the president emphasised the vital role that party manifestos play in driving a country's development.

“The thinking of people who say that we should put manifestos aside is assuming that everybody thinks the same,” President Akufo-Addo asserted.

He continued that: “I have always found it very difficult to swallow the idea that we should put aside manifestos. They [manifestos] are the products of social engagements.”

He cited the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagship Free SHS policy as a prime example of the importance of manifestos.

“Not everybody, for instance, would have thought that this Free Senior High School matter was a priority for the country. There are still people who question it, but for me, it was a priority and I said so to the people of Ghana before I came here.”

President Akufo-Addo argued that eliminating party manifestos would be detrimental to the country's progress and urged that such calls should not be entertained, underscoring the essential role of political manifestos in national development.