Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticized President John Dramani Mahama’s approach to addressing unemployment, accusing him of focusing on terminations rather than creating new jobs. This criticism follows a directive from the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, to annul all public sector appointments and recruitments made after December 7, 2024, due to concerns about non-compliance with good governance practices and principles. Speaking in Parliament after the President delivered the State of the Nation Address, the Minority Leader highlighted that although President Mahama acknowledged that 2.2 million Ghanaians are unemployed, his administration has primarily been marked by staff dismissals since he took office.
“Mahama has today told us that we have 2.2 million Ghanaians unemployed. But what he has forgotten is that in his administration, in less than 100 days, all we know is ‘sack them,’” he stated. He further claimed that public sentiment reflects dissatisfaction with the President’s actions, noting that “Mr Speaker, on the streets of Accra today, the youth of this country are saying that under Mahama, there have been a lot of terminations.” The Effutu MP also challenged President Mahama to take responsibility for addressing governance issues instead of lamenting. According to him, the President must fix any concerns he may have about the state of the economy.
Mr Afenyo-Markin accused President Mahama of presenting Parliament with the same rhetoric and lamentations, repackaged as though the country was at the dawn of a new era. “The President again came to this house with a familiar story—the usual lamentations. He packaged it in a language as though we have a new beginning. Mr Speaker, if the President has any concerns, his duty is to fix them,” he emphasised.
He further criticised the President’s approach to governance, particularly his claim of reducing the number of ministers. “The President says that he has delivered fewer ministers, but it is clear that his strategy is ‘less is more’—yet, while appointing fewer ministers, he has increased the number of presidential staffers and committees,” he said.
By: Emma Ankrah
