(October 6, 2023, Naymote Partners for Democratic Development is pleased to release its campaign promise tracking report for the presidential election slated for October 10, 2023. The report covers the period August 5 to October 5, 2023. A total of 665 campaign promises have been tracked from the manifestos of the political parties, speeches at rallies, debates, media engagements, town hall meetings, social media posts, etc.
Naymote received manifestos of six political parties namely: Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Unity Party (UP), Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), Liberian National Union (LINU), African Liberation League (ALL), and Liberian People Party (LPP).
Most of the promises tracked focus on the economy, health, education, agriculture, climate change, decentralization and local governance, tourism, women, infrastructure and youth empowerment etc. There were some measurable promises such as creating a food production zones (agro-economic zones across the 15 counties, establish a national student’s loan program for all tertiary institutions, provide 100,000 new jobs annually for Liberians, create a food processing center in Bong County, establish a National Tourism and Culture Authority (NTCA), create 10,000 jobs through a new national rice policy, launch a $20M empowerment fund to support women and youth-owned businesses, increase primary school enrollment by 20% and reduce the number of out of school children by 40% in the first- term, develop curricula for TVET institutions that are aligned with skills needed by concessionaires and other industries, etc.
This activity is part of the institution President Meter Project, aim to promote political accountability, influence public policy, and stimulate discussions among citizens and stakeholders to fulfill political campaign promises as well as enhance the social contract between elected officials and the electorates.
For the past six years, the Naymote has monitored and tracked the performance of President Weah against promises he made during and after the 2017 elections. The report has facilitated public accountability and dialogues between the citizens and the government. Over the course of the electoral campaign political parties and civil society organizations invariably used the President Meter Report as a reference document on the performance of the Weah administration.
The institution believes that tracking the campaign promises of presidential candidates and monitoring political parties throughout elections are essential for sustaining the foundations of democracy, ensuring fair competition ideas, and protecting the integrity of electoral processes.
While the institution appreciates a more issues-based campaign and development of manifestos, most of the candidates are avoiding political debates and speaking at political rallies with little reference to their written manifestos. Sadly, these manifestos are not easily accessible to the public and are not published on their official websites. This made it difficult for Naymote to access the manifesto of the rest of the parties contesting the presidential election.
In January 2024, official activities for the President Meter Project will begin with the winner of 2023 Presidential Election.
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