Alexander Afenyo-Markin flanked by Jerry Ahmed Shaib and Patricia Appiagyei
The Minority in Parliament has launched a blistering attack on President John Mahama and his administration, accusing the government of betrayal, incompetence, and a deliberate assault on the private sector just 120 days into his new term.
Addressing the media, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, described the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s handling of the economy as “economic vandalism masquerading as governance.”
He alleged that the administration had abandoned its promise of business partnership and instead chosen to punish entrepreneurs, suppliers, and contractors who finance and fulfil government contracts with their own resources or bank loans.
According to the Minority Leader, many of these contractors have not been paid, forcing several to shut down operations, lay off workers, or plunge into unsustainable debt.
“The government is collapsing the very economy it claims to lead,” the Minority Leader declared, and added, “The people of Ghana, who sacrificed to work and build infrastructure, who supplied to state institutions, have not been paid. This is sabotage.”
The opposition also hit out at what they described as a betrayal of industrialisation promises. They cited the government’s failure to expand on the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative and the lack of tangible progress on the touted 24-hour economy programme.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin questioned the sincerity of President Mahama’s pledge to create jobs through a 24-hour economic policy, pointing out that no concrete financial allocations were made for the programme in the 2025 Budget Statement presented by Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
“Even the President’s flagship 24-hour economy, which he claimed would stimulate local industries and attract investment, has no presence in the budget,” the Minority Leader stated. “Instead, we were told a committee has been formed to consider it.”
On the issue of import duties and taxation, Mr. Afenyo-Markin accused the government of maintaining “crushing levies and regressive taxes,” including the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, which the President had promised to abolish.
The Minority also lambasted the government’s handling of the Women’s Bank initiative.
The administration, they said, promised to establish dedicated banking services for women in every region, but only GH¢50 million was allocated to the project in the 2025 budget—an amount they called “paltry and insulting.”
“Meanwhile, over GH¢6 billion has been earmarked for the newly created Gold Board, which the Minority Leader claimed is being used to promote galamsey and fund party loyalists under the guise of supporting small-scale mining.
The group dismissed claims that the Ghana cedi’s relative strength was due to government policy, arguing instead that global trends, including a weakening US dollar, were to credit.
“This is not an NDC miracle. It is global monetary turbulence,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin noted, citing international financial analysts who pointed to investor disillusionment with the US dollar.
While acknowledging the scrapping of the E-Levy, betting tax, and emission levy, the Minority Leader stressed that these steps were insufficient to counterbalance what they described as widespread failure in other areas, including agriculture, education, and infrastructure.
He further criticised the government for what they called bloated staffing at the presidency, claiming that despite collapsing ministries in the name of efficiency, the Jubilee House remains overpopulated with partisan appointments.
“You say you’ve collapsed the Ministry of Information and appointed Felix Ofosu Kwakye as a government spokesperson. Yet he has three deputies, plus a separate communication director, director of research, and even a director for agriculture—all at the presidency.”
Citing policy analyst Michael Okoosi Kofi, the Minority said only 9 of the 26 promises made under the government’s so-called 120-day contract had any real substance, describing the rest as “symbolic and cosmetic.”
The Minority Leader said the Mahama administration had broken its promises and abandoned its own manifesto, accusing the President of swapping “truth for evasion, partnership for punishment, and prosperity for paralysis.”
“This country will not surrender,” he vowed, and continued, “We, the mighty minority, will stand by the people of Ghana and hold this government accountable.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu