Opinion: Akufo-Addo’s two million jobs don’t exist; he has destroyed 2 million jobs

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The preposterous claim by President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo’s during a recent TV interview when he alluded to have created 2 million jobs since becoming president is not only LAUGHABLE but a whopper of a lie to be peddled this year.

Ordinarily, Nana Akufo-Addo could have been pardoned for making this false claim as it appears he did it out of desperation in a deceitful bid to canvass for votes just as his Sakawa appointees are doing. However this time around we shall not allow such blatant lies and empty utterances to remain unanswered so that we protect Ghanaians from falling prey and being deceived and scammed once again by Nana Akufo-Addo and his New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Firstly, even if the claim by Nana Akufo-Addo that he had created 2 million jobs since he came to office was true and that all these newly created jobs were in the public sector, the current total number of workers on government payroll does not add up to 2 million. Therefore Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo aka NADAA aka “Nadaa Daa” Ntorohene is simply living up to his Sakawa reputation at best by making a dishonest claim just for the records. Nana Akufo-Addo should leave such juvenile lies to be peddled by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia aka the “Greatest Ranking Liar in Ghana” and other stray Mafiosi minnow of the caliber of Nana B & Co who are accustomed to talking before they think about what they are saying, and never crosscheck their facts.

On the contrary however, Nana Akufo-Addo has destroyed over 2 million jobs and still counting since he became president on 7th January 2017 thus rendering over 2 million Ghanaians jobless, many of whom are now living in destitution. For example in February 2017 Nana Addo unjustly caused the dismissal of 205 employees of the National Service Secretariat; and thereafter sacked more than 560 National Security operatives; and then dismissed more than 500 police recruits in addition to dismissing the Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Dr. Thomas Anabah. Therefore in the first two months of Nana Addo’s presidency alone, over 1,000 jobs were ruined and destroyed.

Then came the biggest job demolition exercise to explode in Ghana since independence that was unleashed and passionately executed by Nana Akufo-Addo and his Sakawa henchmen when they decided to collapse 9 indigenous banks, 347 microfinance institutions, 23 savings and loans companies and 53 fund management companies in what was arguably an irresponsible and unconscionable exercise they christened financial sector clean-up. When Nana Akufo-Addo was busy carrying out his so-called financial sector clean-up, he never paused for a moment to reflect on the consequences and implications for jobs and livelihoods of the many Ghanaian citizens who were affected. It is estimated that the collapse of the 431 financial institutions lead to the loss of over 215,000 direct jobs.

At staunch NPP kingpin and founding member of the party Mr. Kwame Pianin has lamented that the mishandling of the financial sector clean-up exercise will impact negatively on the election fortunes of the party and has even gone to predict that NPP will be shocked at the polls in December. The eminent defeat of NPP on 7th December 2020 is almost a forgone conclusion and just like the lyrics of the famous reggae tune, “nobody can stop reggae”! Nobody can stop the defeat of NPP in December!

Besides the direct job losses associated with the financial sector clean-up countless indirect jobs numbering in the thousands of Small and Medium indigenous Ghanaian owned businesses folded up overnight when they no longer had access to their deposits, investments, savings and working capital. It was estimated that over 3 million customers of the collapsed financial institutions abruptly had their funds locked-up for a protracted period since 2018 and many still have not had their locked up deposits refunded and paid to them. Altogether close to 2 million customers (Ghanaian citizens) and businesses owned by Ghanaians had their source of income and livelihoods truncated.

What jobs did Nana Akufo-Addo create or give those people (Ghanaians) who were adversely impacted by the financial sector clean-up in return for forcefully locking up their deposits if the financial sector clean-up and his promises to refund and pay all depositors their monies was not a Sakawa deal?

Nana Akufo-Addo having gained the notoriety and having earned the reputation “Nana Okum Adwuma” (Chief destroyer of jobs) used his former mistress Ursula Owusu to shut down 34 Radio and TV stations that he considered to be critical of him and his NPP administration resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Several thousands jobs were also lost when Nana Akufo-Addo ordered all contracts awarded by the erstwhile NDC administration to be suspended to undertake forensic audits at tax payer expense for legitimate contracts that had been awarded by the previous government. For over three years these senseless forensic audits compelled many contractors already mired in heavy debts due to Government’s non-payment of completed contract works executed to abandon the projects resulting in numerous uncompleted hospitals littered across the country, abandoned Cocoa roads projects, uncompleted E-Blocks for Senior High Schools etc. These abandoned contracts destroyed the jobs and livelihoods of those who depended on these contracts, suppliers of building materials in the construction supply-distribution chains, artisans and craftsmen like welders, masons, drivers, food sellers etc. and many more became jobless overnight and were left to rot at home by a heartless Nana Akufo-Addo.

Covid-19 has also led several job losses under the Nana Akufo-Addo and Mahamudu Bawumia led NPP administration and unless Nana Addo is unaware or has been sleepy and misled all this while, and it is not a figment of his imagination, he should tell Ghanaians the names of the beneficiaries of the 2 million jobs he claims to have created?

Nana Addo’s claim that NABCO has created and gives more jobs is false because NABCO temporarily employed only 100,000 NPP foot soldiers many of whom are yet to receive their paltry allowances. Certainly the NABCO jobs cannot be compared to Okada business which is estimated to employ over 2 million people with many earning more than GHc300.00 per week on average. An Okada rider therefore earns approximately GHc1, 200.00 a month compared to the paltry GHc700.00 earned by a NABCO person that is if they are even lucky to get paid. Nana Akufo-Addo has therefore lost the Okada argument; because clearly Okada business generates more income than NABCO.

Freight forwarders, road contractors and others have all complained about how the NPP government’s policies have crippled their businesses. Freight forwarders have repeatedly complained and agitated against the UNIPASS systems used at the ports to clear imported goods, Nana Addo’s NPP government has turned deaf ears. Businesses activities at the ports have taken a nosedive resulting in revenue losses as well as delays in clearing goods.

For road contractors it is a common knowledge how they have encountered interminable delays in being paid for completed works executed.

Teacher trainees and nursing trainees have also been scammed through the Nana Addo led NPP administration ruse to pay trainee allowances only for trained teachers and nurses to stay unemployed and jobless after graduation which hitherto was not the case under the John Dramani Mahama NDC administration as teachers and nurses were employed soon after graduation.

In conclusion no rational sensible Ghanaian should swallow the lie that Nana Akufo-Addo has created 2 million public sector jobs. Even if some Sakawa jobs have been created by Nana Akufo-Addo they were jobs for his close Akyem relatives and tribesmen, and members of his inner circle of family and friends like Edward “Bumpty” Akufo-Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, Gabby Otchere Darko, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Eugene Arhin, and the rest of the Mafia Yahoo boys who rather got employed and not the majority of working-class Ghanaians.

By: Assibid Dauda: Opinions published on this website do not represent the views of Daily Mail GH