President Mahama Bemoans Lack of Trustworthy Employees as Key Barrier to Business Growth
President John Dramani Mahama has identified the lack of trustworthy and dedicated personnel as a major challenge confronting business owners in Ghana, describing it as an even greater obstacle than limited access to capital.
Speaking at the Kwahu Business Forum on Saturday, April 19, the President recounted a personal experience to drive home the point, lamenting how efforts to establish a family transport business were thwarted by mismanagement and misplaced priorities.
“There are several businessmen who have told me that one of the major hindrances they face in business is not even capital — it is getting trusted people to work with,” Mr Mahama said. “If somebody comes to work for you, he thinks that your business is the platform for him also to build his business.”
Recounting the events, President Mahama shared that he once bought a bus for a relative to operate a commercial transport venture, in the hope that proceeds from the business would support his extended family and reduce financial pressure on his then modest parliamentary salary.
However, the plan backfired after the vehicle was handed over to another relative to operate. The driver, according to President Mahama, altered the bus by installing a top carrier and consistently overloaded the vehicle — a practice that eventually led to repeated mechanical breakdowns.
“The axle broke down, and it was the most regrettable experience in my life,” he remarked. “They kept coming to me to repair it. In the end, it cost me more to maintain the bus than if I had just been ‘MoMoing’ them the money.”
He revealed that the driver had begun building a house with profits accrued from running the bus, but the project stalled when the bus was eventually grounded and sold. “The house reached lintel level and, till today, it is still at lintel level,” he said.
President Mahama stressed that his experience is not isolated, citing similar sentiments shared by many Ghanaian entrepreneurs who struggle to find dependable individuals to manage or run their enterprises.
He warned that this situation is pushing many business owners to look beyond the local labour market for managerial talent. “I know that even business people and industrialists are going out of the country and bringing foreigners to manage their businesses,” he said. “It is an indictment on our human resource, and it is something that we must begin to think about.”
Calling for a change in attitude, the former president urged Ghanaian professionals to uphold integrity and commit to supporting the long-term growth of businesses rather than exploiting them for short-term personal gain.
He concluded with a rallying call for the development of a trustworthy, loyal, and skilled workforce to serve as a solid foundation for Ghana’s private sector-led growth ambitions.
