The Minority has criticized President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to revoke public sector employment, accusing him of terminating jobs and creating uncertainty for young Ghanaians.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, March 3, former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam highlighted the negative impact of Mahama’s policies on job creation and economic stability.
“The termination of the jobs of young Ghanaians, which has become synonymous with President Mahama as ‘Terminator 1,’ is a sign of what is yet to come. Sacking people from employment and replacing them later with others does not amount to job creation. What the people of Ghana want are new jobs for those yet to be employed,” Dr. Adam stated.
He argued that the policies outlined by Mahama, such as “nkoko nkitinkiti,” cannot create sustainable jobs for the youth. Instead, he accused Mahama of artificially inflating employment figures by terminating existing jobs and later filling those same positions.
“President Mahama knows that the programmes he outlined in his statement – ‘nkoko nkitinkiti’ and the rest – cannot create sustainable jobs for the Ghanaian youth, hence the resort to termination of existing jobs for future replacement to shore up his job numbers,” he added.
Dr. Adam also pointed out Mahama’s double standards, recalling that in 2016, Mahama defended the right of an outgoing administration to recruit and sign deals until midnight on January 7, when its term officially ended.
He warned that these dismissals would only worsen unemployment, contradicting Mahama’s promise to fix the crisis.
“This is after President Mahama had argued in 2016 that it was legitimate for an outgoing administration to recruit and sign deals up until the midnight of January 7 the following year when its term expires.
“Not only are the double standards worrying, but the dismissals will no doubt worsen the unemployment situation which he promised to fix. The thousands who have been dismissed have been condemned to suffering and hardship,” Dr. Adam said.
