The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) has condemned the Ghanaian government as a “waste of financial resources”, amounting to nearly GHC3 billion under the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.
In response to the mid-year budget presented to Parliament on July 23, where Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam disclosed the substantial expenditure, GAWU’s General Secretary, Edward Kareweh, expressed strong scepticism about the program’s effectiveness and called for an audit before proceeding with its second phase.
Kareweh emphasized his concerns, stating, “What now shocks me is that they come and continue to drum home that there has been success in agriculture and that the policies are working. Simply, the policies are not working. I am saying that those policies, what they created, are a waste of money.”
He further criticized the allocation of funds, questioning the tangible results and suggesting that insufficient attention has been paid to the initiative’s actual outcomes. Kareweh highlighted specific sectors, such as poultry farming, where he argued that inadequate financial support has led to businesses collapsing.
The Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, aimed at enhancing food security, has entered its second phase with initiatives to register farms for streamlined implementation. Despite government assertions of its achievements, GAWU remains steadfast in its call for accountability and effectiveness in agricultural policies.
The union’s stance underscores ongoing debates about allocating and managing public funds in Ghana’s agricultural sector, reflecting broader concerns about resource utilization and policy impact.
