By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Oct. 9, GNA – Government has given
financial clearance for the recruitment of over 145,000 workers, Mr Kojo
Oppong-Nkrumah, the Information Minister Designate, has said.
The breakdown includes 24,033 health workers,
over 9,500 educational workers, 4,000 police recruits and 3,527 security
personnel.
The rest are 2,700 agriculture extension
officers, 1,049 local government workers, 20,000 afforestation workers and
100,000 Nation Builders Corps (NABCo) trainees.
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah, who made the disclosure on
Tuesday at a press conference in Accra, said the first priority of Government
was to revive the economy and return it to a stable footing from the crisis of
2016.
The press conference was held to give an
update on key government initiatives and programmes such as job creation, the
One District, One Factory (1D1F) and progress made on the road up towards the
lifting on the ban on illegal mining.
“To this end we have spent the first one and
half (year) restoring the macro stability, a fact to which now all economic
observers attest.
“Government is continuing with the next step
which is to deepen its job creation initiatives in the private and public
sectors,” he said.
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said on the public sector,
financial clearance has been given for over 145,000 jobs as part of these
efforts.
He said Government was creating 100,000 jobs
across the private and public sectors and across all 254 districts through
NABCo.
He said the objective is to provide employment
opportunities to solve the unemployment problem among the graduate cohort,
while at the same time delivering on the goal of transforming and brining
efficiency to public sector service provision.
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said a budgetary provision
of GHC600 million was made in the President’s 2018 financial statement to the
Parliament.
He said the Ministry of Finance, initially
released some GHC30 million to assist with the implementation and
administration of the programme; adding that trainees under the programme would
receive a monthly stipend of GHC700.00.
“Currently over 90,000 beneficiaries have
already accepted their postings and we are expecting the 10,000 remaining
beneficiaries to complete their acceptance within the week,” he said.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is
slated to commission them to start work before the end of October,” he said.
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said all of these 145,000+
persons were expected to be at the post by the end of this year.
“Even though 145,000 is a significant number,
the extent of the unemployment challenge created within the last eight years
means that more people are still looking for jobs.
“Government will continue with actions aimed
at providing opportunities for them as we continue to improve economic
conditions and government finances,” he said.
He said Government’s principal job creation
path, however, was fully to execute programmes that aims at stimulating the
creation of more economic activity and jobs; like 1D1F Programme.
GNA