By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Jan. 13, GNA – The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) says the merging of ministries by the new President John Dramani Mahama’s government is not a worry for workers; however, they are interested in the ministries’ ability to create jobs for Ghanaians.
The government announced, through an Executive Instrument, the merger of some ministries and a reduction of the number of ministries from 30 to 23.
Mr Abraham Koomson, the Secretary General of the GFL, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said “of course, all the ministries are very important for the revival of the economy; however, workers are directly affected by the performance of ministers assigned to Labour, Jobs and Employment; Trade, Agribusiness and Industry.”
Mr Koomson added that it was the expectation of workers that sooner appointments would be made after exhaustive due diligence to identify deserving persons to take charge of these ministries to get the needed result for Ghanaians.
“Workers are not much concerned about the renaming or merger of sector ministries except to acknowledge the huge revenue savings to the state,” he said.
He explained that the two ministries were pivotal for the economic growth of Ghana; therefore, the need to have well-qualified people with the competence to initiate and implement proper policies, such as the 24-hour economy, to create jobs to turn around the country.
The GFL Secretary General said as Ghanaians massively embraced the message of the 24-hour economy, the government needed to ensure its success.
He expressed his confidence in Mr Goosie Tanoh’s appointment as advisor on the 24-hour economy to the President.
Mr Koomson stressed the need for the government to implement the 24-Hour Economy policy in the early days of President Maham’s administration as it has great potential to create the needed jobs and address the high rate of unemployment among the youth of Ghana.
He said as stakeholders of the government, workers had an interest in the successful formulation and implementation of the policy to bring some relief to the state and its economy.
He reminded the government that even though it was early days yet, many Ghanaians, especially the unemployed, were waiting for concrete policies and measures on the creation of jobs.
“Therefore, policies that seek to create a congenial environment for the growth of industries and businesses are acceptable to trade unions because of employment opportunities and therefore must be prioritised,” he emphasised.
In addition, workers embraced the 24-hour economic policy in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto because of its potential positive impact on job creation, Mr Koomson said.
GNA