One does not need any critical assessment of President John Mahama's promises to conclude that his last minute job creation ‘overtures’ are mere cosmetic aimed at winning votes.

Mahama forgot his role in the joblessness of scores of Ghanaians

Prior to the implementation of some policies to address the unemployment situation two years ago, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has created more joblessness in the country than has created jobs.

The unemployment situation in the country for the past 15 and a half years has shot up from an unassuming bad situation to a worst one. It is fast becoming a national disaster.

The contribution of the NDC and President John Mahama to the situation is horrifying. Through miscalculations and wrong priorities, Ghana was plunged into a power crisis. For the first time in decades, the power situation was at an excruciating level.

This resulted in the birth of a situation popularized as “Dum-sor” - literally translated to mean the on and off of electricity supply.

Households and factories were starved of power. It wasn’t that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the nation's power distributor, deliberately created the situation. Evidence abound that the erratic power supply was as a direct result of system failure.

Governance was brought to its knees for the first time since independence.

Government after government  under-invested in the sector knowing the population of the country was on the increase and several companies were being established.

The Akosombo Dam, a project undertook by founder of modern Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, now operates below its capacity. This is due to the low water level.

Several businesses collapsed and others relocated to neighboring countries because of the erratic nature of power. Tied to these ramifications was that many workers were rendered jobless which affected meals on family tables.

For more than two years, President Mahama broke his promise of fixing the power crisis permanently. He made one promise after the other only to end up breaking them a few days later.

It was obvious from incoherent timelines given by government functionaries that they were handicapped in addressing the situation. The weight of guilt and disappointment was drawn on faces of NDC communicators who were metamorphosed into energy experts overnight.

Corporate Ghana took the fall. It grew increasingly dissatisfied with the unfriendly business climate in the country and as a result, shut its door from new entrants into the job market. It was simply not ready to take on additional workers.

The fate of an estimated over 35,000 graduates churned out from the various tertiary schools was left in their own hands. Public sector employment has been frozen a consequence of government’s unbridled dependence on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for handouts.

Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of some surviving companies justified their decision to cut jobs. Their overhead expenditure has been increasing due to reliance on a generator to power production.

Mahama forgot SADA was to bring HOPE to Northern, Upper East, Upper West Regions

The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), a body set up to spearhead development in the three regions of the North was used to dupe the country.

Investigation work conducted by Joy News' Manasseh Awuni Azure revealed that SADA paid GH₵32,498,000 to a company called ACICL to plant five million trees in the savannah zone. However, the company only accounted for 700,000 trees.

It was also found that GH¢15 million was spent on the rearing of guinea fowls, but only a few birds could be accounted for.

There are several others including the collapse of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneur Development Authority (GYEEDA) which was fraught with reeking pungent of corruption, the 116 Metro Mass branding scandal and GH¢51.2 million judgment debt 'gifted' to NDC financier, Alfred Woyome.

Mahama forgot Ghanaians didn't vote for the NDC because of its policies

President Mahama and the NDC have forgotten the mandate given to them by Ghanaians was for them to deliver the public goods and not to amass wealth for themselves.

I doubt if Ghanaians voted for the NDC in 2008 and 2012 because it had better policies than the NPP. If it had been about policies, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had soporific policies although I disagree with some of them.

Then a student at the University of Ghana, I was part of the few student leaders who wanted a change of government. 

The NPP grew complacent and bossy. It had confidence and trust deficits to contend with. It became clear that the party had grown arrogant especially monitoring some comments made by the party's functionaries.

On top of that, the NPP grew corrupt and was always loud when corrupt charges were leveled at party executives. President Kufuor’s infamous statement that corruption dates back to the days of Adams and Eve was instructive.

It was evident that the NPP had to go and it was sent packing.

Ghanaians voted for the NDC not because it deserved it but that it had a leader, late President John Evans Atta-Mills who was across the political divide hailed as incorruptible.

The NPP was rejected in 2008 because like the NDC it was suffocating under corruption and shady deals. This was compounded by the inaction of President Kufuor to purge his ranks of the charges.

Mahama forgot the jobs he created were temporary

President Mahama has said he has created about 400,000 jobs since he was voted for 2012. The figure is debatable considering it was not driven by any scientific data.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) is deficient in bringing out reliable data to help the country.

The questions that beg to be asked are: Where are those jobs? Did the NDC employ undeserving party members or deserving Ghanaians?

I thought the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) and Youth Employment Agency (YEA) which is rebranded GYEEDA would help unemployed graduates find their niche in the society. Little did I know that they will yet become avenues to prop up NDC supporters financially.

If the NDC is convinced that YES and YEA have delivered on their mandates, it should make public all the individuals who benefited from them.

Mahama forgot Julius Debrah is a labour expert

Anyone who holds the view that the NDC has not created any job would be wrong in his thinking. President Mahama has created some jobs across the country through the many infrastructural projects he has undertaken.

However, the truth is that most of these jobs were temporary such as carpenters, masons, and electricians among others.

These jobs are unsustainable especially after the projects are completed.

Premised on the above, I find President Mahama’s mantra of creating more jobs in his second term a tongue in cheek. It is as though he is telling Ghanaians to get ready for tougher times ahead.

Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah has suddenly become a labour expert, organizing career seminars across the country.

I'm tempted to share the view of some colleagues that every year has to be an election year in Ghana. What do you think?

You can trust that Julius Debrah, President Mahama, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) will always come to you with a bag full of goodies and promises.

Ghanaians should remember Mahama's short memory

I know there are attempts to hoodwink Ghanaians into voting for the NDC or NPP in Wednesday's elections.

We have a duty to drop the veil of ignorance from our faces as a people and make the right choice. It is only by doing that that we will know who our leaders truly are.

Think Twice Ghanaians in the upcoming polls.

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Disclaimer:

Views expressed here are solely the author's and do not in any way reflect the position of management of Multimedia Group Limited.

The writer, Austin Brako-Powers, is a journalist at Joy News Joy 99.7 FM and could be reached via Brakomen@outlook.com.