Akufo-Addo has deliberately dismantled the Unemployed Graduates Association

Of course, everyone has the inalienable right to the freedom of association. So it was not something out of this world, when a group of young unemployed graduates willingly came together and formed unemployed association.

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests”.

“No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order(order public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others (ICCPR 1966).”

Obviously, the young graduates did not knowingly break any law by forming unemployed association, as the government of the day could not motivate the private sector to create viable jobs for the ebullient youth.

Indeed, it was always going to be extremely difficult for the private sector to create viable jobs when the economy grew from 14% in 2011 to a disappointing 3.4% by December 2016.

Suffice it to stress that before the insidious coronavirus, the economic growth was picking up steadily. The economy grew from a meagre 3.4% in December 2016 to a favourable 8.6% in 2018.

It is however gratifying to note that the economic team of the Akufo-Addo’s government prudently put measures in place to improve the hitherto asphyxiated economic outlook.

That being said, the opposition NDC operatives are claiming that Akufo-Addo is not doing enough to address the unemployment problem in the country. And yet the Akufo-Addo’s government has facilitated more than 181 factories, which are in various stages of completion across the country as part of the One District One Factory programme.

If the 1 District 1 Factory initiative is not an employment booster, what is it then?

In addition, about one hundred thousand graduates have been given jobs under the pragmatic National Builders Corp (NABCO) scheme and thousands more, including nurses and teachers, who have been employed in the public service since the NPP government, took office.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, the preceding pragmatic measures have resulted in the dismantling of the weird Graduates Unemployed Association. Obviously, an encouraging number of the previously unemployed graduates are now in a gainful employment.

Somehow, the opposition NDC operatives are claiming that the economy has deteriorated under Akufo-Addo’s watch, while blatantly failing to acknowledge the fact that the economic growth in 2016 was 3.4%, and Akufo-Addo’s administration managed to move it to 8.6% before the unspeakable coronavirus (GSS).

The NDC loyalists are extremely unhappy about the current inflation, which stands around 10.5%, compared to 15.8% in 2016 (GSS).

They are moaning inexorably about Cedi to Dollar exchange rate, which stands at about GH5.60 to $1 (BOG), while refusing to accept the fact that they took it from GH1.20 to $1 in 2009 (BOG), and left it at around 4.20 in 2016 (BOG).

They say Akufo-Addo is insensitive when it comes to fuel prices, and ignoring the fact that in 2009, the NDC government inherited a gallon of petrol at around GH3.69 (Ghanabusinessnews.com/energypedia.info, 06/01/2009), and left it at around GH18.00 in January 2017 (See: Fuel prices increase by about 11%; cityfmonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 05/01/2017).

The NDC faithful are complaining bitterly that Akufo-Addo is not doing anything about Ghana’s deplorable roads, meanwhile Akufo-Addo is prudently using Ghana’s bauxite in a barter deal worth around $2 billion with the Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction outfit, Sinohydro, to construct roads across the country.

They are insisting that the economy is not reflecting in Ghanaians pockets, but the Akufo-Addo’s government has taken pragmatic steps and restored the Nurses and Teachers Allowances which were regrettably cancelled by the erstwhile Mahama administration.

So the opposition NDC operatives want to tell us that such interventions aren’t reflecting in the pockets of the Nurses and Teachers?

They say Ghanaian parents are suffering in abject penury, and yet the Akufo-Addo’s government has judiciously distributed the national resources in the form of Free SHS, which paved way for more than 400,000 children a year, including the over 190,000 children who otherwise would not have the opportunity to enter senior high school.

As expected, they are dismissing the benefits therein the Free SHS, and yet the Akufo-Addo’s government is spending a staggering amount of GH5532.83 over a period of three years on each student. In effect, parents with three children in SHS will be pocketing not less than GH16598.49 over three years.

They are bizarrely weeping uncontrollably for Ghanaian traders, many of whom, in actual fact, are satisfied with the Akufo-Addo’s government for relieving them of over eighteen nuisance taxes which had hitherto crippled their businesses.

They say the Akufo-Addo’s government has not done anything significant for prudently reducing benchmark values (30% on cars and 50% on goods) to the utter delight of Ghanaian traders.

Nonetheless, since the announcement of the reductions of benchmark values, some beneficiaries have attested to significant discounts.

Clearly, the lives of Ghanaians are being transformed steadily through many pragmatic interventions, such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, the Nation Builders Corp(NABCO), tax reductions, including import taxes, low inflation, gargantuan savings on free SHS, amongst others.

K. Badu, UK.

k.badu2011@gmail.com