Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Stephen Amoah, has raised concerns about the government’s proposed bill to establish a 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, insisting that the policy framework itself remains unclear and poorly developed.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Thursday, Dr. Amoah said the Minority’s opposition to the bill is not simply about rejecting the idea of a 24-hour economy, but rather about the lack of proper groundwork and the risk of creating duplicate institutions.
“I think they want to have a new law or act or bill to deal with the 24-hour economy, but the policy framework itself has a lot of issues to deal with,” he stated.
Dr Amoah questioned the decision to set up a new authority when existing structures within government already perform related functions, describing the move as a sign of dysfunction.
“They want to have an authority. This is like buying a plane without an airport,” he remarked.
According to him, the government appears to be rushing the process without properly assessing the sustainability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the proposed Secretariat.
“It looks like they are just rushing with intentions, not appraising its abilities, sustainability, its effectiveness or efficiency, and whether we’re going to really attain the very purpose for which we want to set this up,” he said.
Dr. Amoah argued that Ghana already operates elements of a 24-hour system in key sectors such as health and security, and that the real focus should be on manufacturing and value-chain expansion to create jobs.
He stressed that the main promise of the policy should be boosting industrial production, reducing dependence on raw material exports, and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity.
“The emphasis was basically on manufacturing… to make sure that we expand the value chain, not dealing with raw materials and importing everything,” he added.
However, Dr. Amoah claimed the government has not provided sufficient research or data to justify the establishment of a new authority.
“They haven’t done any research on that. They haven’t collected any data. They haven’t developed any value chain… they haven’t done anything about it,” he said.
He compared Ghana’s situation to Asian and European economies where large-scale factories operate in multiple shifts, employing thousands of workers under well-established industrial frameworks.
“One factory can take about 1,000 to 5,000 workers and they run three shifts. That’s what they do,” he noted.
Dr. Amoah also challenged claims that government has widely engaged business leaders, urging authorities to publish concrete policy documents to support the initiative.
“I wish you could ask them for any policy document on that,” he said.
The Minority has maintained that without clear planning and proper institutional alignment, the proposed Secretariat risks becoming another costly bureaucracy rather than a driver of economic transformation.
About the Author
