Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, Mr. Poku said the government must go beyond slogans and confront the real economic challenges Ghana faces.

“I believe we should stop this sloganism and deal with reality,” he said. “We need to differentiate between politics and the actual economic situation.”

He noted that the original idea of the 24-hour economy was vague and confusing, lacking a clear roadmap for implementation.

“When the 24-hour economy was launched, the idea seemed to revolve around job creation through multiple shifts, including night work. There was even a claim that welders working at night would enjoy cheaper electricity. But today, when you read the official policy document, the entire narrative has changed.”

Mr. Poku said the updated policy now focuses on economic expansion, industrialisation and productivity—but the name remains misleading.

“You cannot mandate a 24-hour economy in a demand-and-supply-driven market. It’s not a policy that can simply be enforced. What they have now is a comprehensive economic growth plan, but calling it a 24-hour economy is misleading.”

He raised concerns about funding, pointing out that the policy document estimates a cost of $4 billion. When added to other initiatives like the ‘Big Push’, Ghana will need $14 billion within a short period.

“President Mahama has only four years in office. After exiting the IMF programme next May, he will have about two and a half years to raise this money. Ghana just secured $3 billion from the IMF over three years—so where will $14 billion come from in 18 months?”

He argued that the private sector also lacks the capacity to provide such large investments quickly, especially under Ghana’s current economic conditions.

“No private investor will rush to inject a billion dollars in a short time. Our sovereign credit rating is B- with a positive outlook. Local companies can’t borrow at cheaper rates than the sovereign, and multinationals depend on their parent firms abroad for funding.”

Despite his criticisms, Mr. Poku acknowledged the policy document contains good ideas and advised that it be handed over to the National Development Planning Commission.

“The document contains brilliant ideas. But it should be integrated into a long-term national development plan. Trying to rush such an ambitious programme within a limited political term is unrealistic.”

Source: Kareen Tei

In an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential aspirant stated that the government is now bent on raising funds by every means possible.

Mr. Poku’s remarks come in the wake of Parliament’s approval of the GH¢1.00 petroleum levy, which was passed by the Majority Caucus on Tuesday after the Minority staged a walkout.

Less than 24 hours after its approval, the move has triggered widespread criticism, with energy experts and the Minority describing it as an additional burden on Ghanaians.

However, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has defended the levy, describing it as a timely and necessary fiscal measure to stabilise Ghana’s energy sector.

Mr. Poku, however, insists that the levy has nothing to do with the energy sector and is instead aimed at funding general government projects.

“The government is in crisis, so this levy is urgent for them because they can’t fund the economy. This has nothing to do with the energy sector but is a tax to be collected by the GRA,” he stated.

He also took on Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga’s claim that the GH¢1 levy is a “collective sacrifice” to end the recurring power crisis, popularly known as dumsor.

“I thought they said there is no dumsor, so why do we need money to solve it? The Finance Minister is also saying Ghanaians will not bear the brunt—is he the one going to provide the petroleum products? Who will bear the cost? They should stop lying to us,” he fumed.

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This follows claims made by Boakye Agyarko, also a flagbearer aspirant in the upcoming NPP Presidential Primaries, that nine out of the 10 aspirants have been meeting to discuss their policies and explore possible alliances ahead of the presidential primaries.

However, the Vice President has been absent in all these meetings.

According to Kwadwo Poku, while he does not fault Dr Bawumia for failing to show up to any of these meetings, he believes the Vice President may be sticking to his own campaign strategy and may reach out to other aspirants following the Super Delegates’ Conference slated for Saturday, August 26.

“You see, as Mr Boakye Agyarko said on your show (PM Express), there isn’t a cabal or Mafioso or whatever. Look, I have Mr Addai Nimo’s number, I have Dr Apraku’s number, and I have honourable Alex’s number. We’ve all talked among ourselves.

“In the meetings that were held or even the letter you remember we wrote a petition to the party for the centralized voting – when the letter was done, it was sent to Dr Bawumia, but he just refused to sign it. So everything that we have done, we’ve made attempts, and he’s aware of everything that we’ve done,” he said.

Meanwhile, he has denied claims that these meetings have been geared at alienating Dr Bawumia in the event of a run-off.

According to him, no one has been plotting against the Vice President, hence, those claims are unfounded.

“As you go into such a race where there are 10 people, you need to be sure of, in case you don’t make it, who do you back. Or in case you make it who do you now get to align with you? So that discussion has been ongoing.

“What everybody has to realise is that eventually there’s going to be a winner. Now if five comes off on Saturday and five goes into November 4^th, and nobody even gets 50 plus one, there is going to be a run-off between the top two.

“So everybody at any point in time needs to be conversant with the other person’s message. So the conversation I am part of is the conversation to get to know the other aspirants. There isn’t a conversation that is saying that we’re going to basically go against any establishment or candidate.

“I don’t think nobody has said ‘let us go after somebody’, that is not what the conversation is. There has been no conversation where somebody has been called an establishment candidate,” he said.

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