As Ghanaians looked forward for the much anticipated 2025 budgetary statement of the Mahama administration, many had high hopes of reading and seeing programs and policies that underpinned the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.
Some key promises were anticipated to have featured in the budget read by Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, but much was not heard about them, leaving many Ghanaians dejected, disappointed and angry at the same time.
The 24-hour economy policy, the fulcrum around which the entire 2024 campaign hinged on, was mentioned in passing by the Finance Minister, Ato Forson.
During the delivery of the State of the Nation’s Address, President John Dramani Mahama emphasized that the 24-hour economy policy would feature prominently in the 2025 budget to be read by the Finance Minister as a comprehensive policy was being designed by a team at the Jubilee House.
The Finance Minister, who had been said to have the fine details of the 24-hour economy also failed to give us a glimpse into what the policy is all about and the timelines for its implementation. The Minister also told us in the budget that the document would be ready in the course of the year.
As if that was not enough, the promise to importers, spare parts dealers of a lower than normal tariffs at the ports never featured in the budget. This simply means that the social contract signed between the importers and the NDC has been flouted with impunity.
In effect, the 24-hour economy policy believed to be the game-changing tool to provide millions of jobs to the teeming youth was used just for votes. The promise to reduce port charges was also a sham, from all indications. John Mahama and his NDC have deceived Ghanaians, to put it mildly.
WMN.