Cape Verde Watchdog to Track Campaign Promises in 2024 Vote
As Cape Verde prepares for local elections on December 1, a prominent civil society organization is putting candidates on notice: every promise made on the campaign trail will be recorded and tracked for the next four years.
Accountability Beyond the Ballot Box
The Cape Verdean Civil Society Forum (Forum-CV) announced on Thursday that it is launching a comprehensive monitoring initiative to bridge the gap between campaign rhetoric and governing reality. The organization plans to maintain a detailed registry of all commitments made by candidates across the nation’s 22 municipalities.
According to a manifesto released by the group, this registry will be updated throughout the 2024–2028 mandate. This will allow citizens and the Forum to verify whether election winners are actually following through on their platform planks. Forum-CV emphasized that while it intends to act as a watchdog, it also stands ready to collaborate with elected officials to find solutions for local challenges.
A Vision for Municipal Reform
The Forum’s manifesto goes beyond merely recording promises; it lays out a specific roadmap for better local governance. Key demands include:
- Dignified Housing: Prioritizing affordable housing for low-income citizens to combat the rise of clandestine and unsafe urban constructions.
- Participatory Budgeting: Ensuring that residents in all municipalities have a direct say in how public funds are spent.
- Enforceable Ethics: Implementing municipal codes of conduct to improve public cleanliness and the preservation of communal spaces.
A Shift in the Political Landscape
The upcoming vote arrives amid concerns over a shrinking pool of political choices. Maria do Rosário Pereira, president of the National Elections Commission (CNE), noted a significant drop in independent candidacies. This year, only 10 political forces—comprising five parties and five citizen movements—are competing. This is a sharp decline from four years ago, when 16 groups contested the elections.
Pereira warned that this drop-off represents a decline in electoral competitiveness, suggesting a “need to strengthen the democratic fabric” to avoid potential setbacks in the country’s political development.
The Stakes on December 1
Approximately 352,000 voters are registered to cast their ballots, with half of the electorate concentrated in the major hubs of Praia, São Vicente, and Santa Catarina. Currently, the ruling Movement for Democracy (MpD) holds the majority of local power, governing 14 municipalities, while the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) holds eight.
As the campaign heats up, Forum-CV’s new watchdog initiative serves as a reminder to candidates that in the age of digital records, a campaign promise is no longer a fleeting word, but a four-year commitment.
Image: Pexels – Sora Shimazaki
