Former President, John Dramani Mahama, has shared a personal story on his participation in a 24-hour shift in his formative years.
As a worker on his father’s rice farm, the NDC flagbearer detailed how his engagement as a factory hand is driving his campaign promise of a 24-hour economy.
“When I was a kid, my father was a rice farmer and owned a rice milling plant as well. Whenever we were on vacation, we worked as laborers on the farm. He didn’t want us to loiter in the house”, he said.
Speaking in an interview on Akwaaba FM in Bodi as part of the NDC’s “Building Ghana Tour” in the Western North Region, Mr. Mahama added that, “we worked as laborers and received salaries. We were running a shift system there. You work on a day shift for a week and take a night shift the week after. We were on rotation”.
Currently, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is preaching its 24-hour economy ideals which was tagged the three-shift system in its 2020 manifesto.
Despite the criticism the policy has received, it remains top of the campaign message of the party.
In a response to critics, the former President admitted some institutions are already practicing the policy, but says there is a need to improve conditions for others to follow.
“Many fear of robbery attack in the evenings. So we will have to improve security for the purpose. A lot of young people will be recruited by the security agencies. Some institutions want tax incentives to enable them engage in the system. So we will consider all of that as well”, he added.
According to John Mahama, though the ports are running a 24-hour system, it is ineffective since other allied services are not tagging along.
“The harbor operates 23 hours, they offload ships at dawn but customs and banks do not work at night. So importers are unable to offload their goods on weekends and night. Why can’t the allied services operate at night too”, he concluded.
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