Member of the New Patriotic Party communications team, Aaron Asiedu Antwi, has criticised the feasibility and credibility of the proposed 24 Hour Economy Authority Bill, arguing that the very institutions tasked with implementing the policy do not operate around the clock.
Speaking on ABC In The Morning on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, the NPP’s communications menmber questioned how a three-shift or 24-hour economy could be delivered when the secretariat responsible for driving the policy reportedly closes work at 5:00 pm.
“You come at 8, you clock out at 5pm and go home, how do you expect me to believe you want to deliver a three-shift economy?” he asked. “You are a secretariat that is going to deliver a three-shift economy, you want to study the economy at night or at certain odd hours, but you are closing at 5pm. Who monitors it and even draws a proper policy for it?”
Antwi described the situation as deeply troubling, insisting that the operational culture of the 24-hour economy secretariat contradicts the very philosophy behind the policy.
“Even the 24 Hour Economy secretariat does not operate 24 hours,” he stressed, adding that this raises fundamental questions about the government’s preparedness to implement the initiative.
He further criticised what he described as inconsistencies in government appointments and policy messaging, particularly pointing to the role of the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo. Antwi recalled past comments attributed to Dr. Pelpuo during the first Mahama administration, where he reportedly advised unemployed youth to cut grass and sell it to animal breeders.
When asked whether people can evolve and should not be defined by a single statement, Antwi argued that performance in office should demonstrate such growth. “The work you do within one year should tell whether you have metamorphosed into something different. There is no different thing he can show or prove,” he said.
Antwi also questioned the financial underpinnings of the 24-hour economy proposal. He cited comments by Goosie Tandoh, who, after the establishment of the 24-hour economy secretariat, reportedly stated that the policy would cost the country $4 billion.
“My question is, the country itself goes to the IMF and borrows $3 billion—how can a 24-hour economy cost us $4 billion? How do we even make the money for it?” Antwi asked. He further claimed that only 7 percent of the projected $4 billion cost would be provided by the government, despite the idea being “100 percent born out of the NDC government.”
“As we speak, there have been zero allocation to it,” he added.
According to Antwi, the proposed establishment of a 24 Hour Economy Authority would only worsen the situation by expanding bureaucracy rather than solving unemployment. “Setting up the 24 Hour Economy Authority is extending bureaucracy,” he argued, noting that the policy had been presented to Ghanaians as a “sine qua non” for resolving unemployment challenges.
The comments add to the growing public debate surrounding the 24 Hour Economy Authority Bill, with critics questioning both its practicality and funding at a time when the country faces significant economic constraints.
