The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticised the John Dramani Mahama administration for allegedly abandoning key initiatives introduced under the Akufo-Addo government, exacerbating the unemployment situation.

Speaking at the grand durbar, homecoming, and handing-over ceremony of the Asante Students Union at the University of Ghana, he highlighted the scrapping of flagship policies like the One District One Factory (1D1F) program and related tax exemptions, which had discouraged investment and slowed job creation.

He also emphasised that more than one in every four Ghanaians woke up without a meaningful job, citing an overall unemployment rate of nearly 15 per cent according to official sources.

“When young people can’t find jobs, it is not just an economic problem; it becomes a threat to our national security in a region experiencing various forms of armed conflict,” he warned.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, the NPP MP for Effutu, accused the government of allegedly betraying the country’s path to industrialisation by shelving the 1D1F initiative, which used tax incentives to ignite industrialisation across Ghana.

“The government has discarded it, abandoned it, and killed it. Factories that were planned under the previous administration now sit idle. Investment plans have stalled,” he added.

The Effutu legislator expressed concerns over the alleged growing burden of unpaid loans, particularly under the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).

“Over GH¢291 million loaned to small businesses through MASLOC remains unpaid after 12 years, as of February last year. In our banking sector, GH¢654 million vanished as debt in just five months this year,” he alleged.

“When the government fails to create the right economic environment to inspire the creation of new jobs, young people must innovate to create their own. When leaders won’t build opportunities, the next generation of leaders must build them from scratch.

“The choice is simple: either we solve the unemployment crisis, or it will solve us in ways we won’t like,” he said.