President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told workers that they have a key role to play in the 2024 general elections.
He said the voices and the participation of the workers in the electoral process are essential.
“Your voices matter, your participation is essential,” he said while addressing the workers during the May Day celebration on Wednesday.
President Akufo-Addo further assured Ghanaians that the 2024 general elections will be peaceful and credible.
He said the peace that characterized the just-ended Ejisu by-elections will manifest in the general elections.
He said “like in previous Ghana will once again emerge stronger, more united, and more capable and advancing development goals. Workers as the backbone of our country have a special role to play in shaping our elections.
The Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Yaw-Baah, for his part, urged the Electoral Commission to deliver free, fair, and transparent elections.
He also asked the Police and the judiciary to play their roles effectively to ensure credible polls.
Regarding the economic hardships, he said the programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not yielding the expected results for workers.
In his view, it appears there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the economic hardships.
“It appears there is no end in sight for the challenges, we were told that an IMF bailout will help but we know that an IMF bailout can’t be the solution to the economic hardship…We have a lot to do to protect the workers of Ghana,” he said.
Regarding the challenges of the Cedi, Dr Yaw Baah said in order to deal with the woes there’s a need to reduce importation.
He said import requires the exchange of the local currency into dollars.
This, he said, strains the Cedi hence, the need to reduce the import and consumption ore locally produced foods.
He said “If we want our Cedi to be stable we should reduce import and consume what we produce in Ghana.”
The theme for the celebrations in Ghana is “Elections 2024: The Role of Workers and Social Partners in Securing Peaceful Elections for National Development.”
