By William
Yaw Owusu
Thursday
May 03, 2018
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has given a
breakdown of the over one million jobs it has so far created, as part of
President Akufo-Addo’s resolve to operate a transparent administration.
A comment by Minister of Employment and Labour
Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, that the Akufo-Addo-led government has given
employment to 1,096,404 sparked a spontaneous reaction from the opposition
National Democratic Congress (NDC); but the government did not waste time in
providing further and better particulars.
Specific
Assurance
At the launch of the Nation Builders’ Corps (NaBCo) in
Kumasi, Ashanti Region, on Tuesday (May Day), the minister said that several
interventions made by the Akufo-Addo administration between January 2017 and
March 2018 resulted in the creation of 1,096,404 jobs.
Mr. Baffour-Awuah said specifically, “Between
January 2017 and March 2018, a total of 1,096,404 various jobs were created within
the formal space as a result of the various interventions from His Excellency,
the president.”
However, the NDC entered the fray and even suggested
that the minister’s claim was not verifiable.
Breakdown
However, the government took up the challenge and
swiftly provided the breakdown, which showed that a chunk of those employed are
found in the public sector.
The Ministry of the Interior alone created
opportunities for 3,500 jobless youth and the breakdown included Ghana Police
Service (2,000) with Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service and
Ghana Immigration Service having 500 each.
In the Works and Housing sector, 1,876 people have
been engaged in the construction of housing units, 663 for coastal protection
works, 1,500 for drainage management - bringing the total to 4,039 - while in
the Lands and Natural Resources sector, the Forestry Commission and mining have
absorbed 19,000 and 5,678 respectively - making 24,678.
Five people, including technical advisor, personal
assistant, senior executive office, front desk person and driver were employed
in Regional Reorganization and Development while 545 were employed for Office
of Government.
About 627 and 40 were engaged by Ghana Airports
Company Limited and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority respectively, while in the transport
sector, 894 people were engaged, with 623 going to the Ghana Ports and Harbours
Authority (GPHA) alone.
In the Trade and Industry sector, 31,171 people were
engaged, including 11,761 for Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), 11,659
for Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) and 5,679 for National Board for Small
Scale Industry (NBSSI), while there are 193 people working in the Sanitation
and Water Resources sector.
The Defence sector has 2,050 - with 250 commissioned
officers and 1,800 other ranks for the Ghana Armed Forces. A chunk of 822,067 workers are found in the Food
& Agriculture sector with 745,000 having been absorbed by the ‘Planting for
Food and Jobs’ programme and 56,991 going to the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod).
The Environment & Science sector has 70 while
6,475 have been engaged in the Gender, Children & Social Protection Ministry.
The Employment & Labour Relations sector has
16,900, with 15,000 under the Community Protection Programme of the Youth
Employment Agency (YEA). The Health sector has already consumed 16,502,
including 882 doctors and 3,918 as Health Assistant Nursing (public), among
other categories of professionals.
Inner-City and Zongo Development has 3,000, with
33,160 teaching and non-teaching staff for Education and 21,500 for Business Development
under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) where there are
currently 75 Domes under production under the Business Support Programme -
bringing the overall total for the public sector to 987,461.
The private sector currently has 108,943, with the
Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) leading the charge.
NDC’s
Contention
Ahmed Ibrahim, Member of Parliament (MP) for Banda
in the Brong-Ahafo Region, had said that although the NPP government has plans to
create jobs, those plans were yet to materialize and that the president could
not gloat over what he called ‘non-existent’ jobs.
The MP also accused the government of engaging in ‘rhetoric’
as far as job creation is concerned, saying, “You are collapsing banks and other
industries, yet you claim you are creating jobs; where are the jobs?
Keta
MP’s Challenge
Another NDC MP from Keta, who is the deputy ranking Member
of Parliament’s Committee on Employment, Richard Quashigah, earlier challenged
the minister to provide evidence for the claims.
“Where are the jobs? In which areas are these jobs?
He must come clear,” he queried, adding, “We will demand of him to come and
tell us in parliament where those jobs are. If you say within 15 months, nearly
two million jobs have been created and you don’t tell us which sectors of the
economy, then it leaves a lot to be desired.”
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