NDC National Communication Team member Julius Karl Fieve has rejected claims that political parties, particularly the NDC, do not take research seriously when developing their policies and manifestos.

Speaking on Joy Prime’s News Flash, Mr Fieve said the NDC’s 2024 manifesto was the product of extensive research, consultations and engagements with Ghanaians across different sectors.

“I disagree if he says that political parties, especially the NDC, don’t take research seriously,” he said.

The Deputy Volta Regional Youth Organiser hopeful said he was part of a youth manifesto lab that contributed to the youth policies contained in the NDC’s 2024 manifesto.

He said the party formed committees at various levels and brought together experts from different backgrounds as part of the process.

Mr Fieve added that the NDC went beyond committee work and engaged people directly on the ground.

“We were on the ground to speak to the people who are coming to lead us, the Ghanaian people, children in the schools, our university students, our lecturers, the market women, the farmers,” he said.

According to him, the consultations were intended to gather views and ideas on what the party should do upon assuming power.

“So even before we come up with the manifesto, or before we come to power, we were quite conversant with what we’re coming to do because our manifesto wasn’t just out of the blue,” he said.

Mr Fieve, however, suggested that such criticism could apply to the NPP, citing examples involving former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

“I would agree if probably Prof is talking about the NPP,” he said.

He referred to a claim involving a village without water and the subsequent “one village one dump” manifesto promise, citing a proposal to pay churches, which he said was later described as a joke.

Mr Fieve said the NDC’s approach was different and pointed to what he described as the government’s delivery on its promises.

“For us, the NDC, you can even see the level of intellectuality and intellectualism that the NDC displays in everything we do,” he said.

He cited free SHS, support for first-year university students, the 24-hour market initiative and the economy as areas where he said the government was delivering.

“If it is about free, if it is about free SHS, we are on it; if it is about school fees for first-year university students, we are delivering. If it’s about a 24-hour market, we are delivering. Okay, economy we are delivering,” he said.

Mr Fieve argued that the government’s record of implementation was evidence that its manifesto was not developed without research.

“A government that is delivering and profits itself has attested to it. A government that is delivering at this magnitude cannot be a government bereft of research,” he said.