A presidential hopeful and founder of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, has stated that if he assumes power, he will establish job centres across the country as part of efforts to address the rising trend of unemployment in the country.
Speaking exclusively to Etsey Atisu on Election Desk on GhanaWeb TV, he stated that the job centres would help link graduates to job opportunities, eliminating corruption and the age-old practice of people demanding sexual favours and money in exchange for jobs.
"If you look at my manifesto, there is a portion where I said I am going to have job centers nationwide. It is going to be facilities, offices, and institutions that companies that begin to produce and exist in Ghana do not need to scout for workers anymore, and workers do not need to go to companies to look for jobs.
"The job center will be the facilitator for companies and workers, so if you have a company and you need workers, and because of the data systems we are going to use, everything will be on data. So you key in the positions you need into the job centre , and in any part of the country they will be a job center office. You just walk into the job centre and you search for the kind of jobs you need.
"No more corruption, no more pay for jobs, no more sex for jobs. No more money for jobs. You just go in computers are there, you buy your airtime, credit or whatever, and you just go in, scout, and have the job you are looking for and you can be scheduled for interview. This is the country I want to run. I want to run a country where institutions are more powerful than human beings.
"Nobody is going to rely on an individual; the system is going to work. Anybody can apply for a job and go for an interview," he explained.
He was hopeful that by changing our consumption pattern to prioritise local consumption and manufacturing, Ghana could create more jobs for the youth.
"I spoke about production and manufacturing, and in the industrial hub, when you begin to produce to export, you are increasing jobs in both sectors; in the sector of agriculture, you are increasing productivity; in the sector of manufacturing, you are increasing productivity.
"In the sector of exports, you are increasing productivity. In the farming sector, you are increasing productivity.
"We have over the years imported everything we consume; if we change our consumption pattern to begin to produce what we consume and manufacture, we will increase jobs to the extent that we will need foreigners from outside Ghana to come and support our 3 shifts of 24-hour economy.
"Basically, that is what we are doing; we are not manufacturing, we are not producing, and we are not industrialising. Any country that has gained economic independence and power has these 3 centers of job creation," he stated.
Watch the video below:
The full video will air on Election Desk on GhanaWeb TV at 11am on Tuesday, September 3, 2024
JKB/OGB