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
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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, Mr. Stephen Yakubu, Upper East Regional Minister should have known this policy better not only because of his position as a minister but because he once lived and worked in the UK for years and might have probably enjoyed the 24-hour economy policy that has always been operated by the UK government but rather chose to misinform,
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deceived and in the process attacked and denigrated the women of this region and country at large through his despicable characterization of the policy at the Tengelebgri festival suggesting that the policy would make the men of the region work all day on their farms which would allow their wives to be taken over by other men.
This portrayal of our wives, mothers, and women of this region as mere sex objects is deemed highly reprehensible and an attack on womanhood. The NDC condemns this clear insult and disparaging remarks on our well-cultured women and discerning people of the region at large.
Comrades, there is no gainsaying that John Mahama’s 24-hour economy proposal is causing a lot of confusion and uneasiness in the NPP as every effort at watering down the proposal keeps exposing their shallowness and contradictory positions.
Nonetheless, the chicanery of the minister must not be countenanced since he is expected to exude some knowledge and depth on policy issues and seriousness in the public space. Sadly, the Minister’s speech at the well-celebrated festival of the people of Nagodi exposed his sordidness and crass ignorance of his role as a minister on policy issues in our domain.
He by this comment showed no sense of compassion and empathy for the many disillusioned and jobless youth who thronged the venue with the hope of hearing the concrete policy measures his failed government can adopt to address their current circumstances and or at the minimum hear any alternative job creation policy that the NPP has to rival that of the NDC’s 24hr economy policy.
The Minister’s explanation of the 24-hour job revolutionary policy proposal solidifies our longheld position that the NPP is stale, tired, and completely bereft of ideas to provide sustainable solutions to the many challenges that confront us.
We are particularly shocked at his attempt to deceive and misinform the people of the true intention of the policy more so that he was a beneficiary of the policy when he sojourned to the UK. The questions that beg for answers are: when he worked in the UK’s 24-hour economy, was his wife taken over from him? Why does he think that such a policy in Ghana would lead to others taking over our wives? His assertion cannot and should not be entertained!
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We in the NDC thought that if Mr. Yakubu had any modicum of respect for the people of the region and was truly accountable to them, he would have used the opportunity to explain the efforts he is making to equip the empty building he commissioned at Yorogo in the Bolgatanga municipality under the guise of 1d1f instead of debasing the value of the platform he was given with such unfortunate comment which is an affront to the dignity of our women.
Friends from the media, Ladies, and Gentlemen, the Minister’s lack of seriousness in the job he has been entrusted to do for the good people of the upper region is further exemplified when as the chairman of the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC), he slept on his work and operatives of national security and soldiers came into the region at his blindsight and subjected residents of Garu and Tempani to severe brutalities which culminated in the death of one of the victims. To date, Mr. Yakubu and his NPP’s government have not taken any serious action to bring the perpetrators of such a dastardly attack on these innocent civilians to book and/or properly compensate the victims of this state-sponsored terrorism.
Our Position
The 24-hour economy remains the only viable policy that can provide decent and sustainable jobs for the teaming unemployed youth of this country and no among of fruitless misinformation can dissuade the many unemployed youth who have lost hope of ever securing any meaningful job opportunities under this clueless Nana Addo-Bawumia/NPP’s government. The policy will usher us into an era of jobs revolution wherein, everyone can find one or more decent and well-paid work to do.
The policy would rather build and bring smiles and joy on the faces of families in the country instead of causing people to lose their wives as the minister and the NPP want us to believe. The policy will end the many years of struggle for decent employment opportunities by the many young couples and the agony and sleepless nights that families are subjected to by the hard and harsh economy that the Bawumia-led Economic Mismanagement Team has created for Ghanaians through their reckless borrowings and incessant decision and appetite of printing more currency to support the now known collapsed and bankrupt Ghanaian economy. The long hours spent thinking of how to provide food and other necessities for self and family will
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soon be over when the John Mahama administration in 2025 implements this widely accepted 24hour economy.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Stephen Yakubu, just like his compatriots in government today, is shallow intellectually and is proven by his sloppy understanding of the 24-hour economy policy proposition and many other senseless decisions and acts including the shirking of his responsibility to provide adequate safety and security to the people of the region. In light of these, 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. It is completely unacceptable to continue to expend the scarce resources of the taxpayer on a clueless leader like Stephen Yakubu. We must get serious in this country!
Demands
We in the NDC take serious exception to the unrepentant attitude of the NPP and its leaders at launching needless scathing attacks on the well-meaning Ghanaian women at the least opportunity they find. We, therefore, unequivocally condemn the backward and stereotypical attack and attempt by the dishonorable Stephen Yakubu and the NPP to portray and present the women of this region as mere sex objects. We thus, demand an immediate retraction and apology from Mr. Yakubu within 48 hours. Again, we demand 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.
Cause of Action
If the minister fails to comply with this, will prompt civil actions including massive demonstrations against him to emphasize our demand for respect and equality for all.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the 24-hour economy remains a viable solution to the worsening unemployment situation, especially for the youth. We thus, urge all who seek positive change to support this proposal and vote massively for John Mahama and the NDC’s Candidates in the upcoming general elections for the policy to be implemented. Let’s build the Ghana we want together.
Thank you.
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