Communications team member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Tabitha Apegyine Ayilla, has criticised the Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, over his recent remarks that unemployment in Ghana is partly due to citizens’ overreliance on government for jobs.
According to her, she is disappointed that the Minister would make such a statement and questioned who citizens are expected to rely on for employment opportunities.
Dr. Pelpuo, speaking in an interview with GhOne TV on November 22, described unemployment as a long-standing national challenge.
“It has accumulated into several people leaving school and having the same kind of fear that they’re not going to be employed just as their predecessors had been waiting for jobs over the years.”
He added, “And it is as a result of over-reliance on government creating jobs for everybody.”
Discussing the performance of the Mahama administration 11 months into office on Metro TV and monitored by NewsDesksGH on November 24, Tabitha Ayilla argued that the government has not lived up to its commitments.
“The NDC lost their way. They lost their way and decided to depart from their own manifesto promises to the people.”
She further criticised the Minister’s approach, saying “The man they have put in charge of labour. This man has a pendant of not being able to see beyond his nose how to create a job.”
She added that it is a time when many Ghanaians are seeking employment, referencing the recent incident at the Ghana Armed Forces recruitment exercise at the El-Wak Stadium, where six people died in a stampede due to overcrowding.
“I’m saying this unapologetically because there a lot of people who are hungry, desperately looking for job opportunities.”
“This man came and told the people of Ghana that we shouldn’t rely on government for employment. Who should we rely on?”
“Has he forgotten their own manifesto promises to the people? I am disappointed in him.”
