By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, July 6, GNA – An 11-member Zimbabwean delegation led by Madam Sienzeni Mateta has paid a courtesy call on Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions in Accra.
The delegation was in the country to learn from Ghana best practices on labour issues, diaspora affairs and to share knowledge and experiences.
Mr. Baffour Awuah, in his welcome remarks, noted that when Zimbabweans visit Ghana, they should see themselves as being at home.
He said in the same way when Ghanaians also visit Zimbabwe, they should see themselves as being at home, because they had been friends for a long time.
He reiterated that it was not surprising that Ghanaians and Zimbabweans were learning from each other.
“The fact that you have come here doesn’t mean that we have it perfectly here. It is also an opportunity for us to exchange ideas between our two nations and the way we handle our diaspora issues,” the Minister stated.
“Persons in diaspora usually are there because they also want to have a means that they can butter their bread and support their families back home,” he added.
He said when the Government of Ghana came in, it was to also make sure that whatever they were doing out there met the standards that Governments had agreed to at international levels.
“Since we have all signed on to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) protocols and the Internal Labour Organisation (ILO) protocols, it is our responsibility to make sure that our citizens out there working are accorded what we call decent work standards,” the Minister said.
He said the Ministry did not directly deal with issues of diaspora, but diaspora was an aspect of migration and labour.
He said there was a small innovation that Ghana was doing with the European Union, because most, most of its citizens living outside reside in Europe, and because of that, they had a centre that also was helping them to be able to more or less regulate and also try to perfect the relationship between Ghanaians living here and those in Europe, and as much as possible, to also address issues of illegal migration between Ghana and Europe.
He said the Ministry was about life after school and the major preoccupation of employment even though the Ministry did not directly engage people for sectors, but facilitate employment generation.
The Ministry, he said, was also responsible for pensions in Ghana.
The Minister, who presented the National Labour Migration Policy Document to the Head of the Zimbabwean Delegation, said the Government had created the Youth Employment Agency as part of efforts to address the unemployment situation in the country.
He said it was the Ministry’s responsibility to make sure that there was a cordial relationship between both employers and employees; and that nobody takes advantage of the other.
Mr. Baffour Awuah reiterated that the Ministry sets labour standards and ensures that the workplaces are safe for workers.
He said the Labour Inspectorate Division of the Ministry had the responsibility of ensuring that the workplace was safer and more decent.
On her part, Madam Mateta, who referred to Ghanaians as in-laws, in an apparent reference late former President Robert Mugabe marrying Sally Mugabe, a Ghanaian, also commended the excellent relations that existed between the two nations, which dates to the era of liberation struggle.
She said that in 2016 the Government of Zimbabwe crafted a diaspora policy, which was aimed at incorporating their diaspora into national development; so, that they could participate in active economic issues in terms of investment, and their government could also tap into their experiences abroad.
She said the delegation, which had earlier held meetings with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority was in Ghana to learn the experience of Ghana, because Ghana had been recognised as one of the countries that had done well with regards to the operation of their diaspora into the activities of the economy, and also to enhance that seamless interaction between the Ghanaians abroad and the Ghanaians that remain in Ghana.
“So, we are, we were looking specifically at how best we can create space for the diaspora to participate in the economy,” she said.
GNA