Unemployment continues to be a conundrum for governments across the world.
In both developed and developing countries, policies are churned out to address this challenge as it plays hide-and-seek with us.
Truth be told, some policies are merely intended to serve as humbugs.
While in developed countries, government policies are fashioned out to ensure positive results in that direction, their counterparts in developing ones such as ours rely on empty slogans with little or nothing to show for them.
At best, the sugar-coated policies are injected into manifestoes to, as it were, hoodwink the electorate. That is for our part of the world.
No sooner have the politicians been vested with power than the electorate see the deceit they were subjected to by the smart politicians.
In the last elections, the stakes were high and the main contestants were busy pulling the strings to convince the electorate to come onboard their wagons come election day.
During their campaign rounds, politicians promised tackling the seeming conundrum of unemployment, but being silent however as to which category of citizens would be entitled to such employments.
They would have passed for sincere and godly politicians had they told us at the time of the campaigns that, when they come to power, only members of their parties would be considered for employment.
As the campaign trail propaganda persisted, senior citizens who have lived long enough to recall March 6, 1957 with little difficulty could only smile wryly and for good cause. They have seen it before, unmistakenly déjà vu.
When the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Mahama, dangled his 24-hour economy mantra in front of Ghanaians, the youth, some of whom have stayed home for years without being on payrolls, were enthralled and genuinely so.
Imagine state institutions going to run shifts and all things being equal, what a great impact that would have on unemployment.
But truth be told, this is Utopian. The state’s kitty cannot afford this manifesto stuff. It is simply unfeasible.
It might sound Utopian as pointed out, but given the state of politics in this country, the polarisation, we can only adopt a wait-and-see posture.
We did not have to wait indefinitely as mass dismissals play out pursuant to a government directive. Is this a government which promised to tackle the unemployment conundrum head-on?
As the days elapse, it does not seem we are close to dealing a fatal blow to unemployment.
The ongoing dismissal of persons perceived to be non-NDC card-bearing members at workplaces is a retardant to our progress as a nation. This is not the Ghana that we desire.
The dearth of employment is only being exacerbated and not being addressed.
Resetting, some say, should not take this form unless the Number One Gentleman concurs with his appointee who said he will appoint only NDC supporters.
We do not want to think that the President is not a President for all. President John Mahama is too smart to want to restrict himself to serving only his party supporters. Maybe we are wrong by the unfolding realities across the country.
Politics in this country is taking a downward spiral and it is worrying.