Ghana’s public discourse on job creation has taken a new twist following what many observers describe as conflicting positions from Labour Minister-Designate, Dr. Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, regarding the role of government in addressing unemployment.
In two separate public engagements, Dr. Pelpuo has offered sharply contrasting explanations and solutions to Ghana’s job crisis, sparking debate over the coherence of the government’s labour policy direction.
At a recent youth development forum, the former Minister of State warned that Ghana’s unemployment problem is largely driven by society’s “overreliance on government to create jobs for everyone.”
According to him, the belief that the public sector must absorb all job seekers has overstretched the state and contributed to rising unemployment, particularly among young graduates.
“The public sector is already overstretched,” he said. “We must begin to look inward, towards innovation, entrepreneurship, and private sector growth, as the real engines of job creation.”
He urged the youth to embrace entrepreneurship and called for a national paradigm shift away from government-dependency.
However, during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on January 30, Dr. Pelpuo strongly championed the NDC’s flagship 24-hour economy, a policy many critics argue is heavily government-driven and dependent on state incentives, regulatory support, and public-sector leadership.
The policy proposes a three-shift, round-the-clock working system designed to create new employment streams, expand production, and increase wages across several critical sectors.
Dr. Pelpuo described the initiative as a transformative job creation tool.
“The 24-hour economy is a commitment to ensure we engage the Ghanaian worker effectively and increase production,” he said, emphasising the state’s central role in coordinating labour reforms, incentives, and infrastructure support.
On one hand, Dr. Pelpuo criticises the expectation that government should create jobs; on the other, he endorses a policy that effectively places government at the center of job creation through expanded public services, sector-wide coordination, and incentive-led private sector restructuring.