In the past few weeks, market women in the country’s traditional markets have had cause to express disappointment in the government’s handling of their star policy, 24-hour economy.
The disappointments have not only been expressed but enhanced by demonstrations at the markets, some of which date back to the colonial times.
Some of these women inherited these shops from their ancestors. Infrastructural developments are welcome activities in the true sense of the expression. Not so however when the driving force is propaganda borne out of the need to prove that a phantom policy is after all viable.
Agbogbloshie and the Kantamanto markets among others have been earmarked for so-called 24-hour markets to, as it were, move the economy forward. Hundreds of market women and men would be thrown out of these spaces so the sole-sourced projects can proceed.
Even schools, in some cases, have been demolished for the 24-hour markets, some of them at locations hardly going to witness serious economic activities.
It is instructive to note that without any announcement, the critical segment of the 24-hour game changer, the 1:3:3 job creator, has been shelved, hardly referred to in National Democratic Congress (NDC) circles.
The only circles where reference is made to this failed segment is in the opposition, where convincing arguments have been adduced about the unviability of the policy.
Government should be sincere with Ghanaians by presenting a convincing prognosis of the policy. We need to know what has happened to the failed job creation aspect of the policy. Are we to take it that it was a wild goose chase which had to be abandoned for want of effectiveness?
Being sincere with us would remove the doubts about a possible scam. Otherwise, why would we all of a sudden be fed with a so-called 24-hour market model? And to think that this has been disowned by the 24-Hour Market Authority CEO makes it even murkier.
It is paradoxical that a policy which is ostensibly intended to create jobs is rather doing the contrary.
Will these markets employ the thousands of graduates sitting in the house?
Market women and even men who undertake their informal economic activities being given ultimatums to vacate shops and open space selling points for the construction of ghostly markets is a subtle way of denying them their sources of income.
There are no guarantees that the new so-called 24-hour markets in the popular locations such as Agbogbloshie and others will be reserved for them when they are completed.
Card-bearing NDC supporters sponsored by party women organisers will line up to take over places previously owned by non-ruling party women and men.
To think that such markets will address our employment challenge is to either show ignorance about the intricacies of unemployment or just being mendacious about a reality.
Ghana will not witness progress when rulers tread on this tangent of insincerity and hypocrisy.