Opinions of Monday, 26 February 2024

Columnist: John Tetteh Hogrey

It was a 'concert party show' on Peace FM’s 24-hour Economy discussion

The writer The writer

The Peace FM panellists were hailing the man who intends to digitalise corruption. They were hailing the man who says Kayayeis will soon carry goods without headbands because of digitalization.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said with the Ghana Card, interest rates on loans will drop (irrespective of macroeconomic factors which make his government borrow short-term at 30%).

The Kokrokoo panellists hailed him. Amazing!

The misunderstanding of the 24-hour Economy displayed by some panellists of the 23rd February edition of Peace FM's Kokrokoo show is legendary. I have no other word than to describe it so.

The panellists were literate, but my conclusion was that they did not read.

For the first time in the history of party policy marketing, the National Democratic Congress has published FAQs and taken the pain of time to explain the policy. Yet, some literates do not understand the policy. It will also be intensely surprising that after several months of publication of the document, they have not read it, but courageously ran commentary on it.

On the show, the panellists cited the examples of a 24-hour Economy outcome given by the Chairman of the NDC, Asiedu Nketiah, Aide to the former President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Nana Oye Bampoe, and one other communicator.

The Panelists misunderstood the examples as being the meaning of NDC's 24hr Economy.

They indicated that Felix mentioned on Asempa FM that Waakye sellers will be operating 24 hours under the policy, and began to make a mockery of themselves in respect of the statement.

They also cited Electricity to Farms mentioned by Mr. Asiedu Nketia as contradicting the position of Felix Kwakye Ofosu.

Another panellist also suggested the impossibility of the policy by indicating that if he intends to go to Kumasi before night, he will not change his schedule because of the 24-hour economy. This is because what he intends to do at Kumasi is not in the night, therefore, the policy is not good.

Did the policy say that everybody must be awake and work in the night?

I do not intend to spend time reproducing the available 24-hour Economy document in this script because I have done so severally on the radio but to simply say that, whether you are NDC or NPP, the policy proposal of every potential president should be of concern to you; take time and read their policy proposals.

When you have the opportunity to be on the radio, beyond the party duty is also a duty to educate, and a duty to the nation.

None of the comments or examples mentioned by Chairman Asiedu Nketiah, Felix, and Miss Bampoe are contradictory. As a student of Philosophy, what they did was to provide an OSTENSIVE DEFINITION of the 24-hour policy.

Examples are subsets of a whole. They might not be alike, but still are members of the whole; policy, and project.

Honestly, this is the effect of a one-sided show.

#24hr Economy is still a game changer. Wait for the policy document!