Minority caucus demands jobs and recruitment funding, challenges call for patience

The Minority caucus has demanded clear funding for jobs and public-sector recruitment, rejecting the government’s appeal for patience after presenting the 2027 Budget. Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said Ghanaians needed jobs and relief from living costs, not assurances about economic stability. He addressed a press conference on Thursday after Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson presented the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament.

“The minister now tells us that the work ahead will demand patience. Whose patience?” he asked. Afenyo-Markin argued that the government had been given time to show it could deliver. He questioned why jobseekers were still being asked to wait after two years. “Ghanaians want jobs, jobs, jobs.” The Minority Leader welcomed the government’s claim that it can meet payments under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

But he questioned whether the same provision applied to public-sector workers and recruitment. “But the question is that where is the money to pay JUSAG, the money to pay teachers, the money to pay nurses, and the money to recruit?” He also challenged the government to disclose how many jobs it had created. Afenyo-Markin said the budget’s economic claims did not reflect the conditions households face.

He cited food prices in markets in Techiman, Tamale, Kumasi, Winneba and Accra, arguing that essential produce remained unaffordable. “Stability on paper, hardship in our pockets.” He accused the government of relying on slogans while failing to address unemployment and the cost of living. “The NDC cannot rebrand unemployment. They cannot slogan away the cost of living.” The Minority also demanded details of the New Economy programme.

Afenyo-Markin questioned how much of the stated US$10 billion would be available in 2027 and which projects would receive funding. He said those details were necessary for tracking expenditure. He also sought clarity on how the programme differed from the government’s 24-hour economy policy. Turning to private-sector employment, he argued that businesses needed stronger incentives to invest and expand.

“Without the private sector, the economy cannot grow.” He criticised the proposed duration of machinery-related exemptions and argued that inadequate support for businesses would undermine job creation. Afenyo-Markin also questioned progress on the promised women’s bank, saying the Finance Minister had not addressed it in the presentation. The Minority will undertake a fuller examination of the budget after Parliament’s budget workshop, he said.

For now, he maintained, the government must show how its proposals would translate into employment, recruitment and improved household incomes.