NDC member defends 24-hour economy, says four years needed to assess programme

A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mohammed Alhassan, has defended the government’s flagship 24-hour economy programme, arguing that the initiative cannot reasonably be expected to deliver its full results within one or three years.

Speaking on Plan B FM’s Nkosuo Nsem with Kofi Sekyi, Alhassan said Ghanaians should allow the government to complete its four-year mandate before making a definitive judgment on the programme’s success or failure.

He argued that major economic policies and development programmes require time to mature and produce the desired results, stressing that even some advanced countries took several years to achieve significant outcomes from similar initiatives.

According to him, no government can realistically implement and fully realise all its policies within a year or even three years.

His comments follow criticism from political commentator Newton Offei, who recently launched a scathing attack on the 24-hour Economy Authority and its Director-General, Goosie Tandoh.

In a Facebook post, Offei claimed that Tandoh earns more than GH¢80,000 monthly, in addition to other benefits and privileges, while questioning the authority’s contribution to the implementation of the government’s 24-hour economy agenda.

Offei also questioned what he described as the limited involvement of the authority in the establishment and implementation of 24-hour economy markets, arguing that taxpayers’ money could be going into an institution whose impact, in his view, remains limited.

However, the claims concerning Tandoh’s salary and the length of time he has allegedly received the remuneration were made by Offei in his social media post without supporting documentation.

Responding to the broader criticism, Mohammed Alhassan expressed confidence that the government’s 24-hour economy policy and the associated 24-hour economy markets will eventually materialise and produce the intended results.

He maintained that the appropriate time to assess the programme should be at the end of the government’s four-year tenure, rather than prematurely judging it based on its performance within the first few years.

By: Bernard Mensah