The Minority Leader and Effutu MP, Osahene Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has launched a blistering attack on the Mahama administration’s 24-hour economy agenda — branding it a campaign chant dressed up as economic policy.
Appearing on The Point of View on Channel One TV with Bernard Avle, Afenyo-Markin questioned why government rushed to pass legislation establishing a 24-hour economy authority.
His blunt verdict? Ghana doesn’t need another authority — it needs jobs.
“This so-called 24-hour economy, I think they themselves understood it more as a campaign slogan than a policy,” he said. “They brought a Bill to create a 24-hour authority. Another bureaucracy? What do you need a Bill for?”
“Jobs Don’t Come from Authorities”
According to the Minority Leader, if the real goal is job creation, then government should be empowering the private sector — not expanding state institutions.
He argued that the Ministry of Trade could have strengthened the One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative introduced under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, instead of creating what he sees as an unnecessary structure.
In his view, reviewing 1D1F, easing import taxes, and restoring private sector confidence would deliver more tangible results than launching a new authority.
“Relax taxation on imports, review the implementation, and continue the rollout. There’s so much uncertainty in the private sector,” he stressed.
Slogan vs. Substance
While the Mahama administration insists the 24-hour economy will transform productivity and boost employment, Afenyo-Markin’s comments raise a sharper political question:
Is the 24-hour economy a concrete economic roadmap — or a powerful campaign slogan now struggling to find policy substance?
The debate is heating up, and Parliament is fast becoming the battleground.
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