The next government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will scrap medical fees for victims of rape and defilement and provide them with counselling services, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Running mate of the Party has said.

“By this, we are acknowledging the realities some women in the country go through and how some institutions have let them down,” she said while assuring that the NDC would equip law enforcement to fight domestic and gender-based violence.

Speaking at a Town Hall meeting on the Party’s “People’s manifesto” in Cape Coast on Thursday, Prof Opoku-Agyemang reiterated the NDC’s commitment to extend the maternity leave from three to four months and an optional two months work from home for nursing mothers.

Additionally, she said the NDC would provide seven days paternity leave for fathers.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang described the Party’s manifesto as inclusive and embracing one centred on the marginalized, stressing that the next NDC government would invest in the lives of the unseen, unheard and all those forgotten and left behind in the society.

According to her, the NDC manifesto contained most of the life changing programmes that would transform the country.

She said by choosing a female as a running mate, the NDC has declared the intent to accord the women of Ghana their respect and fair share of the nation’s opportunities of equal access to contribute their quota towards the progress and development of the country.

“We are confident of the path of true progress and development because we wrote our manifesto with the people of Ghana regardless of age or status,” she said.

She indicated that the next NDC government would create a Ghana where people would believe they could turn national challenges into opportunities for problem-solving.

She called on all Ghanaians to come on board to build a strong country that inured to the benefit of all.

For his part, Dr Omane Boamah, Former Minister of Communications, said the NDC’s promise of free primary healthcare was a feasible intervention that would strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He said the NDC would deliver state-of-the-art health infrastructure, professional skills-mix and a sustainable health financing mechanism that would generate quality universal health coverage for all Ghanaians.