NPP member Fatimatu Abubakar has argued that economic difficulties facing teachers, cocoa farmers and transport users could hurt the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the polls.
Fatima challenged the suggestion that the economic indicators being presented by the government would automatically translate into electoral support, insisting that voters were more concerned about their everyday experiences.
She pointed to concerns about teacher recruitment, cocoa prices and transport fares as examples of issues she believes could influence voters.
Fatima claimed that disagreements between the Education Ministry and the Finance Ministry over funding had affected plans to recruit teachers and other staff.
“The education minister came out to talk about the number of teaching and non-teaching staff they were supposed to recruit in 2025 and in 2026, and because the Finance Ministry, led by Honourable Ato Forson, refused to release funds, they were not able to meet those obligations,” she said on TV3’s Keypoints.
She added that some teachers who completed training college with expectations of automatic posting had not received the postings they were promised.
The former Information Minister also questioned the increase in the producer price of cocoa, saying farmers were being offered an increment of less than Ghc100 for the 2026/2027 crop season, compared with the amount they had previously received.
“The cocoa farmers who were receiving over Ghc3,500 have now been informed that for the 2026/2027 crop season, the increment is not even up to Ghc100,” she said.
Abubakar further argued that a reduction in the dollar’s value would not necessarily convince voters that economic conditions had improved if transport and fuel costs remained high.
“The truck drivers that you’ve been interviewing every day are saying that despite you saying the dollar is down, the prices of fuel at the pump and the cost of entering trotro from Aboma to Circle have increased,” she said.
She maintained that these were the people whose experiences would matter when they went to vote.
“These are the voters,” she stressed. Abubakar’s argument was that the government’s economic performance should be assessed not only through headline indicators but also through its impact on employment, farming income and the cost of living.
