Kwadwo Poku didn’t hold back at all. He basically tore into the NDC’s whole “24-hour economy” thing, calling it nothing but empty talk just another slogan politicians throw around when they want to look busy. Seriously, he went on JoyNews and straight up said, “Can we drop the slogans already and actually deal with what’s happening?” Love that energy.
He sounded pretty fed up, honestly. According to Poku, the 24-hour economy idea was a mess right from the jump no real plan, just a bunch of confusing promises. First, it was supposed to mean jobs for everyone, with people working shifts around the clock. They even promised welders could get cheaper electricity at night (which, lol, really?). Now the official documents barely mention that stuff; it’s all about “economic expansion” and “productivity.” But they’re still slapping the 24-hour label on it like nothing’s changed. Confusing much?
Poku thinks it’s totally misleading. He’s like, “You can’t just force a 24-hour economy on a market that runs on demand and supply. It’s not something you can just declare into existence.” He says what’s actually on paper now is a general plan for economic growth, not this magic overnight transformation.
And about the money don’t get him started. The new policy is supposed to cost $4 billion, but if you throw in other grand plans like the “Big Push,” Ghana’s looking at $14 billion needed in no time flat. Poku’s math is brutal: Mahama would have four years, and after the IMF program ends, about two and a half years to somehow conjure up that cash? Ghana just scraped together $3 billion from the IMF over three years. So, $14 billion in 18 months? Where’s that coming from, Hogwarts?
He wasn’t buying the idea that private investors would swoop in to save the day, either. No one’s dropping a billion dollars here overnight, especially with Ghana’s economy the way it is. The country’s credit rating isn’t great, local companies can’t get loans at decent rates, and multinationals? They still need daddy company’s permission before spending big.
To be fair, he didn’t just trash the whole thing. Poku admitted there are actually some smart ideas buried in the document. His advice? Hand it over to the National Development Planning Commission, let them work it into a long-term plan instead of trying to force it through in one presidential term. Because, honestly, trying to pull off something this huge in four years? Yeah, good luck with that.