Yesterday ATL FM News ran a story about Ghana’s worsening unemployment situation and the
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology upcoming plans to run clinics to help
young graduates find work.
However, the ATL FM News has been speaking to some workers at the University of Cape Coast
and have found even those with jobs are struggling to make ends meet, with expenditures often
exceeding income.
It is a wide-spread issue, and with easy access to loans over-spending can have dire consequences.
Dr Aborampa Amoah-Mensah, a lecturer of international business and entrepreneurship told ATL
FM News that the pressures of consumerism was a large factor is people spending more than they
make.
“In our society we cherish people who use flashy cars. People also like comparisons – if they
went to school with this guy or this girl and the person is earning this much and you haven’t got
anything, you spend more that you have – either going for a loan or finding fictitious or dubious
ways to cheat.”
Miss Evon Misroame an administrator in the English department agreed saying people need to
learn to live within their means, and that access to loans when you are working can be too easy and
lead to excessive spending.
“People get to know that when in the working environment there is an easy way to access loans.
Some people have not got the need for a loan, yet they will go for the loan and waste it. This
accounts for why people spend more than they need.
“They will not sit down and budget or plan for whatever they want to buy,” she said.
ATL FM News also spoke to Emmanuel Quaye, an aluminium fabricator working on campus who
said he was unable to live within his means as the cost of living in Ghana is too high, and the wages
too low.
“The salary I take a month doesn’t suit me. I have a lot of things to take care of, they are up and
down. In my daily activities I have to take a car in and out and buy my breakfast and lunch.
“To eat in Ghana its a problem, to buy products its a problem.
“Anything you do you have to spend – at the end of the say the salary you takes is something
small.”
He said it was up to the government to fix this issues for Ghanaians in the same situation as him.
