Divided opinion of Ghanaians’ on economy bad omen – Study

Accra, Jan. 10, -A recent study conducted by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana has shown that there is a divided public opinion on the economic performance of government.

Dr Bossman Asare, Head of the Political Science Department explained that the findings on the economy was a bad omen and a warning to government to put in place adequate economic measures to improve the economy.

“It is not a good forecast to the managers of government economy, this is because only 44.6 per cent said improvement has occurred in the economy over the past one year while 42.6 per cent of the respondents discounted claims of any improvement”, he cautioned.

Delivering the results of a study dubbed; “Assessing Democratic Governance in Ghana what the Voters say” on Wednesday, at a lecture series, the Head of Department said voters said the economic situation was one of the important factors they were most concerned about.

The study, he said, revealed that more than a quarter of the people interviewed were of the opinion that their living conditions had not changed significantly from last year.

“Government must as a matter of urgency start building on the economic foundation to improve the lives of the people, who reported that their living conditions were bad. This is a clear indication that people are expecting government to initiate programmes to help improve their livelihood.

“Most people when voting, consider the cost of living and if it is good then they will reward the incumbent but if it is not then they vote against. Closely linked to the economy is the issue of unemployment, which the study showed is a developmental concern dominating public discourse”, he said.

Dr Bossman disclosed that the study revealed that when the electorate were asked if government had created opportunities to reduce unemployment the response was not an overwhelming one.

Mr Burkhardt Hellemann, Resident Coordinator of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, said government should consider the findings of the study as a constructive criticism and work hard to improve those sectors.

“This study is very important because it was designed to ask relevant questions about the livelihood of people, their challenges and what can be done to support them,” he said.

Dr Alexander Kaakyire-Friempong, a Senior Lecture at the Political Science Department advised government to deal with the problems especially in the area of the economy because the public will judge them based on their performance in the next election.

While lauding government on fighting against small-scale mining, he advised that an alternative livelihood project should be given to the people.

On the planting for food-and-jobs initiative, Dr Kaakyire-Friempong urged government to educate people on the programme by linking it to the one district one factory initiative to ensure the people understand it.

GNA