{"id":89705,"date":"2025-08-14T05:46:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89705"},"modified":"2025-08-14T05:46:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:46:56","slug":"african-political-parties-urged-to-prioritise-development-over-electoral-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89705","title":{"rendered":"African political parties urged to prioritise development over electoral gains"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 17 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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African political parties must focus on addressing social and economic challenges rather than solely pursuing electoral victories, President Carlos Vila Nova of S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe has said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the opening of the African Political Parties Summit in Accra, President Vila Nova called on parties to build resilient economies, promote social justice, and strengthen state institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time to change\u2026 the role of political parties must evolve from instruments of gaining power to true platforms for promoting economic growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is no longer sufficient to organise elections and compete for power; political parties must become engine of national transformation, drivers of sustainable economic development, and warrantors of ethical and inclusive governance,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

President Vila Nova cited population growth and climate change as key challenges and emphasised the role of political parties in promoting good governance, quality education, and youth entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood governance and development do not happen by chance. They are the outcome of clear vision, sound policies, and the ability to mobilise people around shared goals, and this must begin with political parties themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

President Vila Nova urged political leaders to act as \u201ceffective mediators between the state and society\u201d and build \u201ca common continental vision,\u201d adding: \u201cIf we get the politics right, everything else will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-day summit, organised by the Africa Governance Centre in partnership with the Government of Ghana, brought together delegates from over 160 political parties and 50 African and Caribbean countries.<\/p>\n

Held under the theme \u201cFrom Politics to Prosperity: Strengthening Inter-Party Collaboration for Africa\u2019s Development and Economic Transformation,\u201d the summit aimed to promote dialogue, consensus-building, and inter-party cooperation.<\/p>\n

Vice President Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, in her address, called for governance that positively impacts citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Power is transient but the nation endures. Partisan victories mean very little if they are achieved at the expense of national cohesion\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cOur people do not ask us to perform politics for its sake. They deserve politics that translate into full security, decent jobs, functional schools, accessible healthcare, infrastructure and justice\u2026 African politics can be more than a struggle for power; it can be a framework for progress,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Mr. Fiifi Kwetey, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), urged leaders to exercise power with humility and respect divergent views.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot, under the guise of democracy, continue to behave in a manner that clearly shows that we do not believe in democracy\u2026 Leadership is not about how to prevent others from having power but how to focus on delivering for our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The summit also saw the adoption of the implementation framework of the African Political Parties Initiative (APPI), a flagship platform for sustained inter-party engagement and capacity development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"AfricanAfrican political parties must focus on addressing social and economic challenges rather than solely pursuing electoral victories, President Carlos Vila Nova of S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe has said.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,2971,117,6526,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-development","category-news","category-parties","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}