The Minister, Stephen Yakubu, questioned the suitability of the policy for farming communities and suggested that it could threaten conjugal stability in those areas. Mr. Yakubu made these remarks during a festival in Sakote, as seen in a video by ApexnewsGh “The vice president is saying that he understands the region. He says that this 24-hour economy, my brothers, when we work in the farms and we are tired in the night we have to sleep with our wives. “We have to be with our wives. In the night you want us to go and be farming and then people will come and take our wives away?” the minister questioned amidst shouts of no from his audience. The Minister’s pronouncement has generated a whole lot of controversy from members of the NDC and some other gender activist in the region. In a press conference organized by the Upper East NDC on Wednesday, November 29, 2023,  the opposition party said: “Our position is that the dishonorable Stephen Yakubu has outlived his usefulness as a Regional Minister in the face of the growing challenges that the people of the region continue to encounter daily”. “The challenges that confront us in the region require someone with the needed depth and intellectual prowess but not the jocular and disaster of a minister like him. If he and his appointor take the people of the Upper East Region seriously, he should have long resigned or been fired from his post”. The NDC in the Upper East believes that, “It is completely unacceptable to continue to expend the scarce resources of the taxpayer on a clueless leader like Stephen Yakubu. They, therefore, unequivocally condemn the backward and stereotypical attack and attempt by the individual they described as a dishonorable Stephen Yakubu and the NPP to portray and present the women of this region as mere sex objects. However, the NDC in the Upper East Region has demanded for an immediate retraction and apology from the ‘dishonorable’ Yakubu within 48 hours. They further demanded his swift action to ensure victims of military brutality in Garu are properly treated and compensated as the head of the Regional Security Council (RESEC), whose negligence caused the unfortunate incident. Read the full statement below: A PRESS CONFERENCE BY COMRADE JONATHAN ABDALLA SALIFU ON THE UNEDUCATED COMMENTS OF HON. STEPHEN YAKUBU, THE UPPER EAST REGIONAL MINISTER, ON H.E JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA’s 24-HOUR ECONOMY POLICY PROPOSAL, AND HIS UNFORTUNATE ATTACK ON WOMANHOOD.  Ladies and gentlemen of the press, welcome to the second edition of the UPPER EAST MUST KNOW SERIES under the auspices of the Upper East NDC Regional Communications Bureau. We appreciate your attendance and understanding despite the short notice. This press conference aims to shed light on H.E. John Dramani Mahama’s 24-hour economy policy, a widely accepted proposal to tackle unemployment and to rapidly grow Ghana’s economy. The policy has gained support from various stakeholders, including the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Federation of Labor (GFL), Civil Society Organizations, Academics, and traditional leaders. It has been deemed by many as revolutionary and a game changer in our quest to resolve the country’s high unemployment menace. The conference also seeks to address the mischief and attempts by the NPP led by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Stephen Yakubu, to cast the women of the region and for that matter women in Ghana in such a negative and bad light as sex objects who have nothing to contribute to the growth of the country but for sexual gratification. Let me state without equivocation that the NDC finds these aspersions on our mothers as unfortunate and distasteful, to say the least.  Unemployment Situation in The Region Ladies and gentlemen, the youth bulge is evident with statistics from the GSS (2021) showing that the proportion of children has declined from 41.3% since 2000 to 35.3% in 2021, while that of young people increased from 34.6% in the same period to 38.2% in 2021. This clearly shows a transition from a population with more children to one now dominated by more young people. Despite this huge human resource, the majority of these abled hands continue to be wasted following the limited job opportunities that the country can create as evidenced by the UPPER EAST REGIONAL COMMUNICATION BUREAU Email: uppereastcommsbureau2022@gmail.com   worsening unemployment rates which rose from 8% in 2016 to a record high of 13.9% currently (GSS, 2022: Minister for Labor and Employment). The Upper East Region is not exempt from youth joblessness as the records show widespread high unemployment rates among the districts in the region, averaging 23.3% with the Nabdam District topping the league table with about 45.9% unemployment rate.  These alarming numbers pose a significant security threat, necessitating concrete policy measures to stem the tides. The 24hour Economy H.E. John Dramani Mahama, leader and flag bearer of the NDC proposes a 24-hour economy as a policy to address youth unemployment. The policy envisions breaking work time into three shifts to ensure all-round production activities in the country. It will be largely private sector led with the state providing the needed enabling environment for companies and industrial organizations that voluntarily sign onto it to engage in production around the clock. The State’s intervention would ensure, the provision of adequate security, reduce electricity tariffs through the time-of-use metering system, provide an efficient and effective public transport system, Tax relief, and other incentives to drive the policy. Public institutions such as the ports, passport offices, hospitals and others whose operations witness huge volumes of patrons and traffic would also operate continuously so that Ghanaians can always access these services at any time and any day. This visionary idea aims to create more employment opportunities, boost productivity, increase output, and alleviate poverty and hunger as would come with the advantage of dampening the everrising food prices and cost of living in the country. The increased output would also, reduce our overreliance on imports thereby, improving our balance of payments position. Stephen Yakubu’s Attack on Womanhood Unfortunately,