Financial and political analyst, Joe Jackson, has described as “lies” the Agriculture Minister’s announcement that the Planting for Food & Jobs programme created 745,000 jobs in rural farming communities around Ghana in 2017.
“I am glad to say that when we did the calculation, we came close to 745,000 jobs created in the rural areas,” Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto told the media in an interview.
Talking about the spate of unemployment at the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Thursday, 25 January 2018, Mr Jackson said the figures cannot be true.
“In my worse state, I think they lied about the statistics, in my best days I say they don’t know the numbers. Let me repeat: when I’m feeling most benevolent, I feel that he doesn’t know the numbers, when I’m feeling angrier, I think he’s plain lying and that’s the truth. That’s how I feel, I may be wrong but that’s how I feel.
If you created 745,000 jobs, believe me, this country will change overnight. If 745,000 more people went into agriculture, I will feel it in my pocket, I’ll feel it in market prices, I’ll feel it in the number of people still looking for jobs,” he told show host Moro Awudu.
In his view, government should create the enabling environment for the private sector to create lasting jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the country.
“First of all, I’m not a believer in government creating jobs directly, it just doesn’t work, it’s a waste of our money. Jobs should be created by the private sector.
It is the private sector that creates long-lasting jobs. In any case, this is a country where one of our biggest single problems is the public sector wage bill. The last thing we need is to add more people onto that public sector wage bill so, as for the government directly creating jobs forgive me it doesn’t excite me.”
