The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy, IERPP, finds it difficult to marry President Mahama’s planned implementation of his promised 24-hour economy with the recent hikes in utility tariffs in general and electricity in particular.
P.K. Sarpong, a Fellow at IERPP, in a post shared on his Facebook timeline, has questioned the governing party over how it intends to roll out the 24-hour economy with the new electricity tariff increase by 14.75%.
“We need to remind President Mahama that he came to office promising to implement a wide range of policies and programmes to better the lives of Ghanaians. One of the key promises was the implementation of the 24-hour-economy” he said.
“Contingent on the successful implementation of the 24-hour economic plan is not only an efficient power supply but also an affordable one. In fact, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, in the run-up to the 2024 elections, was emphatic that electricity tariffs would be halved for entities that would register for the 24-hour economic plan. With a 14.75% hike in electricity tariffs, how can the programme be rolled out?” he quizzed.
This, he stressed, indicates that Ghanaians were lied to by President Mahama and his party’s leadership. “President Mahama pulled the wool over our eyes with his 24-hour economy pledge” he wrote.
In an interview to throw more light on his post, P.K. Sarpong said that the 24-economic model as touted by President Mahama was nothing but an election winning gimmick since it lacked substance right from day one.
“We all saw how difficult it would be for Mahama to implement his 24-hour economy. We had cause to state that it was more of an aspiration than a concrete policy. The people did not listen to us but now look at where we are” he said.
He emphasized that the 24-hour economy in its current state is dead on arrival and that Ghanaians should not bank their hopes on its implementation since there doesn’t seem to be any blueprint for its rollout.
“No 24-hour economy will be implemented by Mahama. There is no policy or blueprint for its implementation. The ‘policy’ exists in the mind of the president. It is idealistic at best since its implementation is difficult under the current circumstances. Ghanaians were clearly deceived” he stated.
