IMF programme delivered nothing but hardship - CPP

The Youth League of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) is calling for Ghana’s withdrawal from the International Monetary Fund programme warning; otherwise it will further cripple the already struggling Ghanaian economy.

According to the group this was because “…the programme has delivered nothing but hardships, high cost of living and more poverty” on the average Ghanaian.

Commander-in-chief of the league, Ernesto Yeboah addressing journalists Friday in Koforidua to mark the International Youth Day said many young people are willing and ready to work but owing to the ‘dreaded’ IMF policies government is barred from recruitment.

“Today in Ghana, young people everywhere are ready and willing to work but they cannot find jobs [but] IMF conditionality’s have ensured that government cannot expand the public sector to employ more,” he told journalists.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana Wednesday asked government to withdraw from the IMF programmes because of its unbearable effects on the lives of Ghanaians.

Since the introduction of the three-year programme in 2015, said the TUC’s outgoing secretary-general, Kofi Asamoah many Ghanaians including working class are sprawling in abject poverty and that the situation could spiral out of control if the programme was not terminated.

Mr. Yeboah who is also the suspended National Youth Organiser of CPP said “We [the youth league] support the TUC’s call for the government to withdraw from current IMF programme.”

President Mahama, however, explained that the three-year programme had helped to introduce stability into the economy, adding that many of the key areas of the programme had been implemented successfully.

He assured that this will be the very last one to be entered into by the country.

Below is the full statement

STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY
ROOT OUT CORRUPTION AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Let me start by thanking our media friends here for honoring our call. As you all know today is 12th August and it is designated as the International Youth Day by the United Nations. Among other things, the day is meant to highlight the contributions of young people around the world and to bring to the fore the potential of the youth towards the progress of humanity.

We in the Youth League of the CPP have an abiding faith in young people and that is why we have taken this time out to address the media on this all-important International Youth Day.

The population of young people between the ages of 10 and 24 is 1.8 billion. The numbers are much higher if we expand the bracket to include people aged 35 years. What this means is that any planning for the future that does not address the specific needs of the youth is bound to fail.

It is in place therefore that this year’s International Youth Day focuses on poverty eradication and achieving sustainable consumption and production. Looking at the theme, two things can be highlighted namely Poverty Eradication on one hand and Consumption and Production on the other.

On eradication of poverty, we should be quick to highlight the daily struggles the youth face. Many go through significant levels of risk to escape poverty. These include but are not limited to those who sell on the streets at the risk of being knocked down by vehicles, those who spend day and night in mining pits that could collapse on them at any point. They include those whose daily bread is never guaranteed and they have to go to bed not knowing where the next breakfast will come from. We should not forget those who have had to resort to crime to survive. These and many more are the daily struggles of the youth that the world must be ever alive to.

Needless to say, poverty eradication has a direct link with production and consumption. But there is something interesting that should be noted about the theme: consumption comes before production. In actual sense, we think production must precede consumption. And this understanding should bring about the needed policy formulation and implementation that makes job creation possible.

It is undeniable that unemployment is one of the many crucial isssues facing young people. The International Labour Organization has revealed that young people are three times as likely to be unemployed as older people.

Today in Ghana, young people everywhere are ready and willing to work but they cannot find jobs. IMF conditionalities have ensured that government cannot expand the public sector to employ more. We support the TUC’s call for the government to withdraw from current IMF programme. This is because the programme has delivered nothing but hardship, high cost of living and more poverty. How can the government claim to be fighting poverty whilst adhering to IMF policies that impoverish people?

In any case, when has any IMF programme saved any economy anywhere in the world? Many scholars have shown how IMF programmes hurt developing countries. In Ghana’s case, a report published by ActionAid Ghana revealed that IMF policies over the years have been harmful to the poor and vulnerable. Even insiders in the IMF have lost hope in the prescriptions of the fund. A case in point is the recent article titled “Neo-liberalism: Oversold?” by Jonathan D. Ostry, Prakash Loungani, and Davide Furceri, all of the Research Department of the IMF.

In addition, killer utility tariffs and unreliable energy supply have made it impossible for the private sector to employ. Consequently, 100s of 1000s of graduates from our nation’s many universities are idling about without work to do.

What is sad is that the government does not seem to be bothered about these. These germane issues rarely make it into the priority list. All Ghanaians are witnesses to the corrupt deals that this government has been promoting which have led to millions of Ghana Cedis being lost. Indeed, many studies have shown that if we halted the wheels of corruption, many socially relevant policies could have been implemented to improve the lives of the people. It is in this light that the Youth League sent a petition to CHRAJ to investigate the Mahama Ford Saga so as to unravel the truth surrounding the matter.

We wish to reiterate our commitment to seeing the issue to its logical conclusion. In the same vein, we humbly call on all Ghanaians to form a strong mind against corruption and root it out for good. We must constantly encourage ourselves to demand accountability from those who have been entrusted with our mandate.

In conclusion, we will like to assure all young people in this country that the CPP Youth League will stand by them and be their mouthpiece, fight for their interest and help them in any way possible to make their lives better. Have faith in the CPP; Have faith in Nkrumaism.

Revolutionary Regards

Ernesto Yeboah

Commander-in-Chief

CPP Youth League (Fighters)