The Deputy Minority Whip, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has criticised the government for what he describes as the exclusion of industry players from key policy decisions, cautioning that the trend is weakening investor confidence and slowing economic progress.

Speaking on the second day of the Kwahu Business Festival on Saturday, April 4, 2026, he said there is growing concern among businesses over how policies are formulated and implemented without adequate engagement.

“The pattern that has emerged across our engagements with industry is as troubling as it is consistent. Policy is conceived, drafted, and announced, and industry is now invited to a meeting afterwards. That constitutes consultation,” he said.

Mr Shaib noted that feedback from stakeholders across various sectors points to a recurring issue where their contributions are overlooked.

“Across every sector our caucus has engaged, from employers to manufacturers to traders, the same experience is reported,” he said. “Formal representations submitted and ignored, legislative changes effected without prior engagement, and regulatory decisions imposed on the very businesses that must live with their consequences.”

He warned that the failure to institutionalise proper consultation mechanisms goes beyond procedural shortcomings and has real economic implications.

“Effective pre-legislative consultation is a structural requirement of sound economic governance, and its persistent absence is not a minor procedural failure. It is a policy failure with real costs, measured in uncompetitive factories, investments that are not made, and jobs that do not exist,” he stated.