What is 'New Economy'; are you departing from your 24-hour economy? — Kwesi Pratt slams NDC

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has criticised the Mahama government's "New Economy" slogan, demanding to know what it means and whether it signals a quiet abandonment of the 24-hour economy promise that won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) back to power.

Speaking on Metro TV's "Good Morning Ghana" on November 11, 2026, Pratt tore into the seemingly rebranding of the government's economic agenda.

"What he (Ato Forson) is bringing tomorrow is something called the 'New Economy' and I'm wondering, what is that? The new economy, what is that? Is that a departure from the promises which were made before the 2024 elections?" he asked.

Pratt reminded President John Mahama and the NDC of why they are in government, stressing Ghanaians voted the NDC into power on specific promises, chief among them is the 24-hour Economy which was sold as a game-changer and the main vehicle for generating employment.

"We want the mandate to establish the 24-hour economy. That was supposed to be the main vehicle for generating employment. We've been in power for two years. These are the things that we have done to make sure that the 24-hour economy promise, which was a game-changer, is on course," he remarked.

He further questioned the decision to introduce this new agenda and whether it is a change in the NDC's programme or simply a new catchy slogan introduced ahead of budget presentations.

He insisted that if the government has realised its campaign promises are no longer achievable, it owes Ghanaians honesty, not a new catchphrase.

"If at any point the government realises that those promises cannot be fulfilled, government needs to come back to us and say; 'look, you gave us a mandate to do this. We've been in office, we've seen that the promises we made were not realistic. We are abandoning it and going for something called the new economy,'" he stated.

Pratt argued that after two years in office, the government should be using the budget to account for progress on the 24-hour Economy and outline what remains to be done, not to unveil a new slogan without explanation.

He maintained that the government's economic direction must be measured against the commitments made to voters and any significant change to those commitments requires a clear explanation.

"Ghanaians deserved clarity if it represented a fundamental change in policy direction," he said.