We lost the middle class to haircuts and hard choices, but saved economy – Afenyo-Markin

Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has admitted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost the support of Ghana’s middle class due to the tough decisions it took to stabilise the economy.

Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews on October 27, the Effutu MP said the financial sector haircut and other austerity measures alienated many of the party’s core supporters, including professionals and business owners.

“We lost the middle class, our own base, the businessmen, because there was some haircut… pensioners, educated people who ordinarily would vote NPP got disappointed,” he said.

“To the extent that a former Chief Justice, appointed by our own administration, was on the streets fighting for her pension — it’s understandable.”

Afenyo-Markin explained that these difficult choices were made in the context of a global economic crisis that required Ghana to stabilise its economy at all costs.

“We were faced with some huge challenges. We tried, but we were not too successful,” he admitted. “In stabilising the economy, certain hard decisions had to be taken.”

The Effutu MP said despite the setbacks, the NPP achieved major milestones, including the introduction of Free SHS and the One District, One Factory initiative.

He argued that these interventions transformed lives and opened new opportunities across the country.

“Ours is to create a platform to build the human resource capacity of the Ghanaian people. We did that successfully,” he said.

He also defended the government’s record on social policies.

“Recently in Parliament, I challenged the Majority Leader to name a single social intervention policy the NDC has initiated and implemented successfully since 1992.

“They have zero,” he said, citing Free SHS, 1D1F, school feeding, health insurance, and the mass transport system as legacies of NPP governments.

Afenyo-Markin reflected on his own humble beginnings to underscore the value of education and social support.

He recalled nearly dropping out of St. Augustine’s College until he won a bursary introduced by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom.

“But for that bursary, I would have dropped out,” he said, adding that policies like Free SHS have given hope to thousands of young Ghanaians.

He said, despite the economic pain and loss of political goodwill, the NPP must continue to highlight its achievements.

“In spite of all these disappointments, we should still let the Ghanaian people know the good things we did,” he said. “We shouldn’t shy away from our success stories.”