NDC, John Mahama's 24-Hour Economy Policy: A mirage and blind ambition policy

For the 7th December 2024 presidential elections in Ghana, the NDC and its presidential candidate are advocating a new 24-hour workday policy to replace the time-tested 8-hour workday policy of the ILO, which Ghana and many other countries have ratified.

This piece aims to provide a microscopic understanding of the two workday economic policies and offer in-depth perspectives to help voters make sensible and critical choices regarding these two hours of work in a new government of Ghana.

One may ask, how did the world, and Ghana in particular, adopt an eight-hour workday policy for its workforce? Why are John Mahama and the NDC seeking presidential authority to introduce a 24-hour workday to replace it? An 8-hour workday entails daylight work activities, starting at 8 am to noon, followed by a lunch break from noon to 1 pm, and then work resumes from 1 pm to 5 pm. This is the basic 8-hour workday policy for labor. In contrast, the 24-hour workday entails a policy where the workday continues from 8 am to the next day at 8 am, or throughout the 24-hour day.

The 8-hour workday policy did not come into existence by chance but through sustained pressure from organized labor globally. For instance, research shows that in 1594, Philip II of Spain established the 8-hour workday for construction workers in Spanish Colonies by royal edict, with an exception applied to mine workers, whose workday was limited to 7 hours. Also, in 1835, Philadelphia carpenters led another strike movement for the acceptance of the 8-hour workday policy, which failed. In 1846, the Federation of Organized Trade and Labour Unions called for a national strike, demanding an eight-hour workday, which also failed. However, with the Great Depression's severe unemployment situation in the US, the labor movement revived the 8-hour idea with more disruptive actions on the labor front. Consequently, in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant yielded to labor's demand and passed the Fair Standards Act, establishing an eight-hour workday or 40 hours a week policy in the US. This declared that an employer cannot reduce wages as a result of reducing workday hours to eight per day.

Moreover, a strike for the 8-hour workday could not be achieved in May 1919 in Peru, in 1915 in Uruguay, and in Chile in 1924. In today's world, the UN agency of the ILO, by 2016, got Ghana and 160 other countries to ratify the 8-hour workday Convention of the ILO.

Currently, ratifying member states have undertaken to apply the Convention in national laws and practices. Once ratified by a country, the Convention is binding upon the country, including Ghana. Ghana has been a member of the ILO since 8th March 1957 and has ratified all 8 Fundamental Conventions of the ILO. Given the aforementioned insights into the existing 8-hour workday policy and our commitment to the ILO, how are John Mahama and the NDC going to implement a policy contrary to the ILO's ratified Conventions on the 8-hour workday policy? Currently, no country among the UN's 193 members is implementing and practicing a 100% 24-hour workday policy. In the US, about 30%, the UK has 19%, Germany has 12%, and France has 7%, while Ghana has 3% of its labor force working the hours from 5 pm to 8 am.

A careful consideration of the 24-hour policy needs to be implemented if Ghana has favorable factors like urbanization, stable economic growth, technological advancement, changing consumer lifestyles, e-commerce, online services, nightlife, and entertainment, to mention but a few.

Sadly, the NDC and John Mahama seem myopic in understanding Ghana's economy. It is common knowledge that not all economic sectors in Ghana can run a 24-hour economy.

For example, you cannot implement a 24-hour policy in rural areas where there are inadequate economic prospects, insufficient human resources, and financial and material resources to support economic growth and development. Additionally, with the post-COVID-19 global economic slowdown and the shrinking of the economies of development partners, Ghana does not have a sufficient economic foundation for the take-off of the mirage 24-hour economy. As a potential voter, the NDC and John Mahama have not published the Cost-Benefit Analysis Report of the 24-hour economy policy they are beguiling Ghanaian voters with. There is no published data on the Gantt chart of its implementation pathways.

The voter is yet to be informed by proponents of this blind ambition policy how the 24-hour economy policy can broaden economic activities in Ghana. We are yet to know how such a lame duck and thoughtless policy can help Ghanaians to have upward social mobility and get out of poverty. It is refreshing to state herewith that countries that practice a 24-hour economy do so in major cities and economic hubs. This 24-hour economy policy is a round-the-clock economy workday activity.

Currently, the NPP government has employed almost all nurses and teachers that the John Mahama government left wallowing at home. This has increased the government payroll from 600,000 to over a million. This is taking a greater percentage of government revenue for compensation and salaries, leaving a little margin for infrastructure development and human ingenuity investments. One may ask, how many people would be added to the government payroll for the night shift workforce? From the foregoing, one can say that a 24-hour economy policy is not an end in itself. It cannot guarantee efficient and effective use of Ghana's resources.

At this stage, what would be the Mirage policy's implementation costs and management costs? At this juncture, this write-up is unearthing latent questions that John Mahama and the NDC have shied away from addressing.

The orientation of people's mindset in terms of change in work culture and non-traditional working hours comes to the fore. Currently, Ghana's economy has shifted from a manufacturing-driven economy to a more service-oriented economy, so who will be patronizing the services past midnight?

It could be noted that countries practicing some degree of a 24-hour economy like Dubai and Abu Dhabi have well-established business hubs. These hubs facilitate global business operations and transactions across different time zones globally.

Also, such countries have free zones in areas that are conducive to business activities. Is Ghana's retail and shopping ready for a 24-hour economy policy that is stillborn? Succinctly, a 24-hour economy results from a strategic combination of fruitful economic policies, tourism initiatives, technological advancement, business-friendly environment, public safety, and collaboration with stakeholders, to mention but a few.

It can be asked further if the 24-hour economy policy being advocated by John Mahama and the NDC is feasible and practical? How much would the additional nighttime workers' economic output add to Ghana's economy? What would the Gross Value Added contribute by each sector of Ghana's economy? In summary, one can see clearly that the 8-hour workday economy policy is entrenched, and to think of replacing it with a thoughtless 24-hour round-the-clock policy is laborious and unrealistic. To replace the 8-hour workday policy, John Mahama and the NDC need to exit the ILO Convention that binds Ghana's labor force to the benefits of having ratified it. How long will it take John Mahama to wean Ghana off the ILO commitment?

It is because of Ghana's ratification of the Convention that Ghanaian workers enjoy May Day celebrations and Labour Unions. In conclusion, it can be stated that the 8-hour workday policy is easily practiced 100% in Ghana and many ILO member states. But the 24-hour economy policy is practiced in developed urban cities with higher security and infrastructural facilities available.

These lend to the fact that John Mahama and the NDC's 24-hour workday policy is a mirage and blind ambition policy. It is unrealistic and impracticable to implement in a peasant economy like Ghana, which has over 60% of the population engaging in agricultural activities.