Major hindrances for businessmen is not capital but finding trustworthy workers — President Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama highlighted the challenge of finding trustworthy employees as a major obstacle for business owners, even more than financial issues.

At the Kwahu Business Forum on April 19, he shared a personal story about purchasing a bus for a relative to run a transport business.

The driver, prioritizing his own interests, modified the bus, leading to frequent breakdowns. Ultimately, Mahama had to sell the bus, showing how personal ambitions can hinder business success.

He noted that many businessmen struggle to find reliable workers who don’t see the business as just a platform for their own goals.

“It is not only him who has had that experience. I have had it too. I bought a bus for a relative to run transport business so that he can look after the family business at home and stop disturbing me on my small parliamentary salary and he gave it to a driver who was a relative, good driver though.

“The first thing he did was he went and put a carrier on the bus and anytime you saw the bus, the bus had more load on top of it than in the bus. And so what happened? The axle broke down, and it was the most regrettable experience in my life.

“When the axle broke down, they came to me to buy a new axle. So the reason for buying the bus had been defeated. Anytime the bus broke down, they’ll come to me to come and repair it, and they were causing me more to repair the bus than if I had just been ‘MoMoing’ the money to them.

“But you know what happened this driver used to live in the family house while he was driving the bus he procured a land he started to build a house, the house reached lintel level when the bus finally broke down and by then I had had enough so I refused to repair and decided to dispose of it, and so I sold the bus.

“This was like several years, maybe, yes, more than 10 years ago. And since I sold the bus where the building reached lintel level, it is still at lintel level, even till today.”

President Mahama highlighted that many entrepreneurs face challenges as employees often see their businesses as mere stepping stones.

He mentioned that some Ghanaian business owners are hiring foreign managers due to a lack of reliable local personnel. The President urged a mindset shift, encouraging Ghanaian professionals to adopt dedication and integrity in business management and to build a trusted core committed to genuine growth rather than personal exploitation.

“So what he says is very serious. Getting trusted people to work with and so we must look at that aspect. I know that even business people and industrialists are going out of the country and bringing foreigners to come and manage their businesses. It is an indictment on our human resource and it is something that we must begin to think about and find a core of management that is dedicated to working to build the business,” he emphasised.