The Cape Coast North Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Stephen Kojo Arhin, says Mr John Dramani Mahama has a poor track record as far as creating employment for the youths was 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 conditions, the Government of Ghana was compelled to freeze employment in the public sector, except for those in education and health, a situation that created massive graduate unemployment.
In view of this, he said, Mr Mahama’s recent assertions that the current government had failed to create employment for the many unemployed youth were 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 had deliberately failed to prioritise the operationalisation of the Komenda Sugar Factory, which was currently rotting away.
According to him, the factory could have provided both direct and indirect employment opportunities for several thousands of the youths in the region.
He said: “Mr Mahama must know that Nana Addo has employed those graduates he left on the streets when they 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 basis for his claims,” he quizzed.
In terms of who had better track records in the management of the Ghanaian economy and creating employment opportunities, Mr Arhin maintained that the NPP’s records were unmatched
“We saw how the NDC engaged in a ‘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, several employment avenues have been created which have been very beneficial to a lot of Ghanaians, and we look forward to adding more.”
According to him, the NDC was only exhibiting signs of desperation, but not serving as the best alternative available for Ghanaians, because the NPP had provided answers to Ghanaians’ problems, and continued to be the best option.
