Veteran movie producer, Socrate Safo, has lambasted former President and the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, over the 24-hour economy that he intends to implement if he wins the 2024 general elections.
According to him, John Mahama’s 24-hour economic policy is not plausible, primarily because it is already taking place, and he has not specified any unique thing that will make an impact.
He reiterated that the creative arts sector for instance, operates within a 24-hour economic system already because there is no restriction on when movies and music production should be done, which implies it is already taking place.
Speaking in an interview with Okay FM and monitored by GhanaWeb, Socrate Safo questioned the credibility of John Mahama’s 24-hour economy, adding that it is not a ‘game-changer’ as he claims.
“I don’t know what made President Mahama say he was going to introduce a 24-hour economy; what happened? When we come to the creative arts sector, how will the 24-hour economy be a game changer when we are already doing it? For instance, when it comes to music and movie production, concerts, and other things, we do it 24/7 without any restriction.
“I remember when one of my movies was being premiered at the cinema; we showed it at 11 am and then later in the evening, we showed it at 4:30 pm and finally, at 12:30 am. Because the people were there, we supplied, so if they are not there, how can you say you’re coming to operate a 24-hour economy within the creative arts sector? I don’t understand,” he said.
He further asserted that there is nothing exceptional about John Mahama’s 24-hour economy, and as a result, he should not be taken seriously.
“This is a person who wants Ghanaians to give him power so he telling us what he wants to do to convince us to vote for him. We need to assess whether his policy makes sense or not before making the mistake of voting for him as president.
"They call it a game-changer but it becomes so when a policy will give us a different direction but I wonder if this will be. What he has been saying are things that already exist so what's new about this? Unless you are telling me that you will share money to the citizens,” he added.
What is the 24-Hour Economy?
The 24-hour economy is simply an economic strategy that involves putting measures in place to ensure that businesses across various sectors in an economy operate both at night and in the day.
In other words, there would be a night economy and a day economy.
The strategy is aimed at ensuring that the economy is as vibrant during the day as it is at night so as to create more employment opportunities.
So essentially, businesses are to put measures in place to ensure that they are in operation every hour of the day. These measures include employing more staff and running a shift system.
Since John Mahama mentioned introducing it, he has faced vehement criticism from some sections of the public disputing its viability.
Watch the video below
SB/OGB
Former President, John Mahama and movie producer, Socrate Safo