Minority Leader Osahen Afenyo-Markin has launched a sharp attack on the government, accusing it of failing to deliver on a wide range of campaign pledges that helped propel the ruling party into office.
Speaking in Parliament, the Minority Leader listed unfulfilled commitments spanning agriculture, employment, the fight against illegal mining, women’s economic empowerment and broader governance reforms.
Afenyo-Markin argued that more than a year and a half into the administration’s tenure, many of the bold promises made to Ghanaians remain largely on paper. He singled out several flagship initiatives that, in his view, have shown little tangible progress.
Among the programmes he questioned was the much-touted 24-hour economy. The Minority Leader noted that while the concept was presented as a transformative solution to unemployment and low productivity, concrete steps to operationalise it across key sectors have been slow.
He said businesses and young people who expected new shift systems, improved infrastructure and supportive policies were still waiting for meaningful action.
Equally concerning, he said, was the status of the Women’s Development Bank. Promoted as a vehicle to boost women’s access to finance and entrepreneurship, the institution has yet to fully take off in a way that reaches ordinary women across the country.
Afenyo-Markin linked this delay to a broader failure on women’s economic empowerment, arguing that targeted interventions promised during the campaign had not materialised at the scale or speed required.
On agriculture, the Minority Leader expressed disappointment that initiatives aimed at modernising farming, supporting smallholder producers and improving food security had not yielded the expected results.
He pointed to persistent challenges faced by farmers, including limited access to inputs, markets and credit, despite repeated assurances of comprehensive support.
The fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, also came under scrutiny. Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the government’s public statements on the issue but insisted that the scale of environmental destruction and the continued activity of illegal operators suggested that campaign vows to tackle the menace decisively had not been matched by effective enforcement and sustainable alternatives for affected communities.
Employment creation formed another pillar of his critique. The Minority Leader maintained that joblessness, particularly among the youth, remained high.
He argued that the administration’s strategies had not produced the volume of decent jobs promised, leaving many young Ghanaians frustrated and uncertain about their future.
Governance reforms, he added, had similarly lagged. Commitments to strengthen institutions, improve transparency and deepen accountability appeared to have taken a back seat, with little evidence of the far-reaching changes once advertised.
Throughout his remarks, Afenyo-Markin stressed that the Minority was not opposed to the government’s goals in principle. Rather, he said, the caucus was holding the executive to the standards it set for itself before the electorate.
“Many commitments remained unfulfilled,” he stated, calling on the government to provide clear timelines, measurable targets and honest assessments of progress instead of recycling familiar rhetoric.
The Minority Leader’s intervention forms part of a sustained parliamentary scrutiny of the administration’s performance. While government spokespersons have previously defended their record by citing ongoing programmes and the time needed for structural reforms to bear fruit, the Minority maintains that the gap between promise and delivery is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
As the political calendar advances, pressure is likely to mount on the government to demonstrate clearer results in the areas Afenyo-Markin highlighted. For now, the Minority has drawn a firm line: campaign pledges must be matched by visible action, or public trust will continue to erode.
