Ghana cannot maintain its current “disastrous path” of unemployment – Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama said that based on records from the Ghana Statistical Service, the government continues to fail the nation on several fronts, leading to Ghana’s worst state of unemployment in recent memory.

This being the case, he said, government workers – teachers, health workers, civil servants, and security personnel – continue to shoulder the additional burden of an expanding population.

“This desperate state of unemployment comes with extra demands on the time and energy of existing workers and sadly deprives their families of their presence at home.

“The truth, however, is that our nation cannot continue this disastrous path; a path where government deprives the youth of opportunities to work and refuses to secure the investments of retirees because of its reckless mismanagement of the economy leading to the collapse of businesses including Ghanaian-owned banks,” Mr Mahama said in a statement to mark the May Day celebration on Monday May 1.

Below is his full statement…

Happy May Day to all!

Today, I celebrate all workers’ industry, innovation, and agency and commend you sincerely for holding the ship of state afloat.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the government continues to fail the nation on several fronts, leading to Ghana’s worst state of unemployment in recent memory.

This being the case, government workers – teachers, health workers, civil servants, and security personnel – continue to shoulder the additional burden of an expanding population.

This desperate state of unemployment comes with extra demands on the time and energy of existing workers and sadly deprives their families of their presence at home.

The truth, however, is that our nation cannot continue this disastrous path; a path where government deprives the youth of opportunities to work and refuses to secure the investments of retirees because of its reckless mismanagement of the economy leading to the collapse of businesses including Ghanaian-owned banks.

This is why I have on several occasions called for an open and frank national dialogue on the true state of Ghana’s economy. I do so with the hope that we can share ideas and build consensus on the way forward for our common good.

It is also why I keep urging the International Monetary Fund to bail out the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia administration to inject capital, credibility, and prudence into the management of Ghana’s economy. If the Fund does not act urgently, the government would struggle to meet its responsibility of paying workers.

The situation of our teeming unemployed youth is exacerbated by the government’s inability and unwillingness to pay crucial social protection funds such as LEAP, GETFund, NHIL, and DACF.

Today, as we celebrate May Day and painfully sail through these stormy times with courage, I will continue to urge you, our gallant workers across the country, to hope for a better future – a future that will protect the investments of retirees, restore and revamp collapsed businesses and banks, create genuine jobs and ensure that our statutory vehicles that offer protection to the vulnerable in society are not cruelly starved of funds.

You are the backbone of our country, and you epitomize the Black Star of hope and honour, so proudly extolled in our national anthem. It is your steadfastness and dedicated service to our dear nation that has kept us afloat amid our present economic turbulence.

I salute you, Ghanaian Workers, for inspiring us to be resolute and work toward Building the Ghana we want Together.

Happy May Day!