Mahama’s double-speak on job creation

 
President John Dramani Mahama, and his National Democratic Congress, appear to have already created the Ghanaian political version of what George Orwell described as double-speak in his political satire -NINETEEN EIGHT-FOUR.

In one breath, the Head of State, and the whole of his government machinery, is in the campaign trenches, convincing Ghanaians to buy into their job-creation module promised in the party's manifesto for the 2016 Presidential and Legislative elections.

In another, the government, headed by President Mahama, and propped up by the NDC, has written to the International Monetary Fund, pledging to abide by the fund's request for an entire government job freeze in 2017.

For the records, the new Memorandum of Understanding with the IMF has the signature of Mr. Seth Emmanuel Terkper, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Isahaku, Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

Read the introduction to the party's manifesto: “The National Democratic Congress (NDC) remains deeply committed to the principles and values of Social Democracy. As Social Democrats, we subscribe to a compassionate political philosophy that seeks to create opportunities for all to develop to their fullest potential.

“We believe that our pursuit of economic prosperity for all Ghanaians can best be achieved through appropriate regulation and strategic investments. We are, therefore, committed to using the legal, fiscal and trade instruments at our disposal, in an inclusive effort to safeguard the jobs of today, and create the jobs of the future.”

On Monday, the Finder Newspaper published the contents of a “Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies and Technical Memorandum of Understanding” the Government of Ghana has reached with the International Monetary Fund, under which the Mahama administration has pledged to fully enforce compliance of the Breton Woods institution's directive on a complete freeze on public sector recruitment.

In other words, while the President claims to have committed himself and the entire administration to the promotion of jobs when retained in power at next month's election, Mahama and his administration have already pledged to the IMF to follow their prescription of keeping Ghanaian job-seekers at home.

Already, the job market has been frozen, following the country's deal with the IMF, under which the collapsing economy has been bailed US$912 million over three years.

In this country, public sector nurses who completed their various courses of study have been sitting at home for the past two years, while our health centres are crying for their expertise.  The membership of the Unemployed Graduates Association of Ghana keeps growing, because there are virtually no openings in the public sector to recruit fresh graduates.

As you read this piece, newly-qualified teachers who graduated from the 32 state-run colleges of education have been teaching all this while without wages. Job creation, under the Mahama oligarchy, is turning out to be a mirage.

In a third-world setting like Ghana, the government is the largest employer. If the state is shirking its responsibility to provide jobs, it puts everybody in danger. If there is hardship in Ghana, there is your answer.

Incidentally, this is an administration that claims to take its social democratic credentials seriously. We are not doomsday soothsayers, but The Chronicle is unable to find any straight path towards job creation after the vote.

In a circumstance such as this, we do not believe any job seeker would be minded to put his or her trust in President Mahama and his promises. There is a lot that the people of Ghana would have to ponder on as we approach the vote. We are not safe with the new double-speak Mahama is preaching.