- and ask for solution to “dumsor”

The Unemployed Graduates Association of Ghana (UGAG) on this May Day extends our warmest greetings to our members and Ghanaian workers working tirelessly to increase productivity amidst the current economic conditions. We say Ayekoo!

As we celebrate this year’s International Labour Day which represents both the strength and sacrifice of the working class across the world, we must not forget that a huge number of our working class remain unemployed and is a threat to our national security if they continue to remain unemployed without us finding any lasting solutions.

Today’s event would see many who smiled last year without their smiling faces because of the current economic conditions which has left them unemployed. These extremely difficult economic conditions have led to over 13,200 formal and informal workers unemployed. Companies including Coca Cola, Standard Chartered Bank, AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont Ghana, and Blue Skies have laid off their workers.

These already struggling industries spend huge amounts of operating capital on fuel and maintenance for back-up generators, further increasing cost of production and millions of Ghana cedis are lost. The current condition has become a major bottleneck hampering our development and the failure on the part of Government to effectively deal with this has left Ghanaian workers struggling to take care of themselves and their families.

The fate of the already psychologically declined unemployed graduates cannot be determined because industries which are supposed to be hiring are firing. Some of our finest young entrepreneurs are struggling to effectively research into their business areas because there is no power to keep their phones, laptops and other working gadgets active. The few who can afford back-up generators are not making significant profit.

We are therefore using the occasion to call on the Government of Ghana and stakeholders within the energy sector to show commitment in helping find lasting solutions to our power crises.