Beatrice Annan, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team has berated the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, over comments that sought to discredit the 24-hour economy proposal by former president John Dramani Mahama.

The minister is on record to have said over the weekend that for farming communities as his, a 24-hour economy means men will have to work round the clock and by so doing neglect their wives at night.

Annan stated on a panel discussion on Accra-based Metro TV (November 27) that the minister’s views were borne out of his status and the perks that come with it, further accusing him of objectifying women.

“He is on government payroll, he gets per diem, he has a Land Cruiser, so he is thinking about sex and objectifying women.

“The young people of this country cannot even have an erection because they don’t have jobs and if you don’t have a job, you would not even be thinking about sex. Romance without money is like a bother,” she submitted.

She challenged the government to give cogent responses to the policy proposal which is to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth... asking the minister if he could think of sex because of his proximity to power and resources, “what of people who don’t have work to think about marrying?”

Beatrice added that lots of young people are unable to get basic amenities of life, that is; food clothing and shelter hence it was unacceptable for the government to trivialize the 24-hour economy discussion because people are living and experiencing the pain of being unemployed.

“They should not sit in their Land Cruisers and enjoying the largesse of government allowances and things and say they want to have sex. We want food, after food, we can have sex,” she added.

Mahama, the 2024 NDC flagbearer, recently proposed a 24-hour economy which he says would contribute to economic growth and job creation, especially for the youth.

However, his biggest contender for the 2024 presidential election, Dr Bawumia who is the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party has argued that the policy lacks creative thinking.

“This is one idea that John Mahama thinks that he has brought, it is a bad idea, it is an idea that hasn’t been thought through so I want you to compare me to John Mahama, who has the ideas to transform this economy.

“The track record of John Mahama doesn’t show innovative thinking, it doesn’t show ideas, the track record of Dr Bawumia is idea after idea. I have my own priorities and I have my own vision, when I become president I will bring more ideas and you will hear them very soon,” Dr Bawumia stated a recent campaign stop in the Northern Region.

The young people of this country can't even have an erection - @Beatrice_Annan1 fires Upper East Regional minster for 'trivializing' #24HourEconomy #GoodMorningGhana #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/79MULQqWCs

— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) November 27, 2023