The Cape Coast North Constituency chairman of the NPP, Mr Stephen Kojo Arhin, says Mr John Dramani Mahama has a poor track record, as far as creating employment for the youth is concerned.
According to him, Mr Mahama’s administration created a backlog of thousands of unemployed graduates, made up of those from both the public and private universities, when the government ran to the IMF for assistance.
As part of the IMF conditionalities, the government of Ghana was restricted to freeze employment in the public sector, except for those in education and health, a situation that created massive graduates’ unemployment.
In view of this, he said, Mr Mahama’s recent assertion that the current government has failed to create employment for the many unemployed youth is unfounded and worrying.
Mr Arhin stated this when he met a section of the media to respond to claims by the former president that Ghanaians were suffering under the current government.
It would be recalled that when ex-president John Dramani Mahama recently took his “Thank You tour” to the Central Region, he accused the NPP of being insensitive to the plight of the youth in the region.
He explained that the NPP has deliberately failed to prioritise the operationalisation of Komenda Sugar Factory which is currently rotting away.
According to him, the factory could have provided both direct and indirect employment opportunities for several thousands of the youth in the region.
He said “Mr Mahama must know that Nana Addo has employed those graduates he left on the streets when he mismanaged the economy and sought relief from the IMF, with dire conditions that did not allow him to employ.
“But it is a fact that today, more fresh graduates as well as those he neglected have been employed by this government, so what are the bases for his claims?”, he quizzed.
Mr Arhin further alleged that during the PNDC era and the first NDC government in the fourth Republic, severalstate owned enterprises and companies which could have created employment for several of the unemployed youth today were sold out.
In terms of who has better track record of the management of the Ghanaian economy and creating of employment opportunities, Mr Arhin maintained that the NPP’s records were unmatched.
“We saw how the NDC engaged in ‘Green Book’ propaganda in 2016 which did not create employment and I can tell you that, this is why they were punished by Ghanaians in both 2016 and 2020, so they must better learn”, he added.
“Under the 1D1F initiative, planting for jobs and export among other programmes have opened several employment avenues being created, which have been very beneficial to a lot of Ghanaians and we look forward to adding more”, he explained.
He claimed that the NDC was only exhibiting signs of desperation but not serving as the best alternative available for Ghanaians because the NPP has provided answers to Ghana’s problems and continue to be the best option.
