The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Committee on Employment, Richard Quashigah has questioned claims by Employment Minister; Ignatius Baffour Awuah that New Patriotic Party government has facilitated the creation of 1,096,404 jobs in both the public and private sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

The Minister while speaking at the launch of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) in Kumasi, Tuesday noted that the said jobs were only in the formal sector.

“Between January 2017 and March 2018, a total of 1,096,404 various jobs within the formal space as a result of the various interventions from His Excellency, the president. The details of these jobs are with me, and I will make them available to the press for their deeper consideration of the figures” he said. But Mr. Quashigah doubts the figures as he has challenged the minister to provide evidence to his claim.

“Where are the jobs? In which areas are these jobs? He must come clear. 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,” the Member of Parliament for Keta remarked.

“You cannot throw out figures without justifying them. The Employment Minister must tell us, in clear terms, which areas these jobs have been created, which are the numbers for the public and which are the numbers for the private, which areas of the private sector is he making reference to because as far as I know, the One District-One Factory has not taken off…” Quashigah added.



Touching on NABCO, Quashigah refuted suggestions by the NPP government that the move would create employment avenues and opportunities for young people who hold diplomas or degrees from accredited tertiary institutions. According to him, government’s posture is an indication that it lacks innovative ideas to curb unemployment.

“Government is only rehashing an old story. National Youth Employment Agency is supposed to be engaging young people under similar conditions. They need to think outside the box… This programme is not different from the YEA programme. Why create a new entity out of the exiting one?” he argued.