The Smile Again Campaign, an initiative by Shafik Mahama, the son of former President John Dramani Mahama is collaborating with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Man­ifesto Committee and the NDC Communication Bureau to pilot the NDC Manifesto Desk.

The desk is to provide a platform for direct, face-to-face engagement with the electorate.

It was launched in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Ac­cra, yesterday, where John Dumelo is the parliamentary candidate of the NDC for the 2024 election.

A statement issued by the Manifesto Committee said the desk would be strategically placed at selected places nationwide to communicate the NDC's compre­hensive economic policies aimed at resetting the economy and cre­ating prosperity for all Ghanaians.

Following the launch of the Resetting Ghana Manifesto a few weeks ago, the committee said "it is crucial to ensure the effective dissemination of the document and employ measures to guar­antee that the electorate fully understands the policy proposals captured within the manifesto." It said the team which includes Fatah Mahama, Abdul Manan Sei­du, Darlington Desmond Okunor, Ibrahima Seidu Seini, Leroy Op­pong and Fawzan Munkaila would distribute fliers and leaflets on the manifesto, engage the public, and answer their questions on the NDC campaign.

The team said it would highlight key policies in the manifesto such as the imposition of stricter pun­ishment on mining in water bodies and ban of new mining activities in forest reserves.

It said "through the "Blue Water Project" and "Tree for Life" initia­tive, the NDC promises to reclaim and turn devastated areas into ecological and economic hubs." The NDC also promises to implement a 'National Appren­ticeship Programme' to generate self-employment through the provision of free technical and vocational training for young peo­ple in various crafts.

Under this policy, the team said trained apprentices would be issued with appropriate certifica­tion and supported with start-up capital and equipment to set up businesses.

Another policy the Smile Again Campaign seeks to sell to the electorate is the implementation of the 'Mo-Ne-Yo' initiative to promote the uptake of special pension schemes for informal sec­tor workers to improve the quality of their livelihood in retirement as part of the All-Covered-Pen­sion-Programme.

Mr Dumelo who joined the team to interact with constituents at the desk said the NDC was tak­ing its campaign a notch higher by directly engaging the electorate.

He said Ghana was at the cross- roads and that it was only the NDC that offers the best policy alternative to rescue Ghanaians from the economic hardship the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) had pushed them into.

Mr Dumelo urged the constit­uents to vote for him and John Mahama on December 7 to reset Ghana onto the path of prosper­ity.  BY MALIK SULLEMANA