The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has pooh-poohed the 24-hour economy mantra of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to him, the John Dramani Mahama-led opposition NDC is not trustworthy to carry through the promise, owing to their track record from 2013 to 2017. According to the Member of Parliament for Damango, it was the government, led by the same John Mahama, which plunged the nation into an erratic power supply that collapsed businesses in a 12-hour economy and cannot, therefore, be taken serious to implement a 24-hour economy.
He said this last Saturday, February 17, 2024 at his acclamation as the Parliamentary Candidate for the Damango constituency in the Savannah Region. He told the supporters that NDC itself is struggling to explain the policy, stating that since its inception the party
has never been able to make any substantive policy propositions to the Ghanaian people.
“All of a sudden, from nowhere, out of the blue, they say 24-hour economy. And when you ask them what the 24-hour economy means, they either say Jack Toronto or something else. They are not able to explain it. And sometimes they say it will mean that Ghanaians will have an economy not by day alone, but by day and night, 24-hours. “But the last time they were in government, from 2013 to 2017, for the four years that they were in government, they subjected this country
to dumsor,” Jinapor argued.
He continued, “They subjected this country to erratic power supplies and, therefore, when they were in government, even in the day, not in the night, in the day, tailors could not work; in the day, there was no economy for welders; in the day, there was no economy for carpenters; in the day, there was no economy for fitters; in the day, there was no economy for thousands, hundreds, and millions of Ghanaians in the day, not in the night.
“When they were in government, in the day, they couldn’t supply power; they couldn’t supply electricity. So any small-scale businesses and enterprises that all lived under it for four years had to close shop, had to close the economy and had to close their enterprises
They did not have a 12- hour economy; they did not have a day economy, and today
these same people are now turning around to come and tell us that they will give us a
24-hour economy. Even a day economy, even a 12-hour
economy, you could not provide it to Ghanaians when you were in government. How are
you going to be able to provide a 24-hour economy?”
COUNTER
The 24-hour economy policy was announced before the NPP flag bearer, Dr. Mahamudu
Bawumia, outlined his vision for the next chapter of Ghana. He has stated his vision to
build on the foundation the Akufo-Addo-led government has laid in the last seven years
to further transform the economy.
The focal point of his vision is the digitization drive, which he believes hold the key
to the economic transformation of the nation, considering that the world has gone digital.
He is credited with the implementation of the drone system, which delivers emergency
medical supplies to remote areas across the country.
Dr. Bawumia is also praised for the implementation of interoperability and the Ghana Card system among others
