The former Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has advocated for the establishment of an independent office of employment statistics to address employment data challenges.
Employment data has been a longstanding contentious issue throughout successive governments. Claims of jobs created by governments are always a source of controversy making it difficult to rely on figures churned out by government officials.
Over the years, governments have attempted to use a number of varied methods to produce data on jobs created. However, all these methods used in the past were bedeviled with inconsistencies and difficulties bringing the veracity of the data into question.
This situation, the former Works and Housing Minister said is due to the failure of successive to institutionalize a credible office for collecting and publishing the country’s job statistics.
He posited that Ghana must emulate the way of the United States of America where there is an independent office in the shape of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics which is a trusted source of employment.
“One thing that, over the years as a republic, we have failed in is having an independent body that can put together statistics on jobs. In the US, for example, they have the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that captures the data and publishes the reports, I think, monthly,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said on the floor of Parliament. He was speaking in support of the motion to approve employment minister-designate, Rashid Hassan Pelpuo.
Employment data, in his view, is critical economic data that measures the strength of an economy hence the need to depoliticise and create a system to ensure transparency and credibility.
He, therefore, urged the Employment Minister-designate to prioritize the creation of an independent Office of Employment Statistics or Labour Statistics to address the gap when he assumes office.
“It will serve the new Employment and Labour Minister well if he pays attention to something like creating an Office of Employment Statistics or Labour Statistics in Ghana that can independently gather this data that the political academic and economic classes can agree on,” he recommended.
Analysts believe this proposal is a step in the right direction given its enormous potential benefit. Reliable employment data is essential for effective economic planning and decision-making. It also enhances investor confidence while helping to address unemployment and skills mismatch.
An independent office would eliminate the politicization of employment data and establish a trusted source that all stakeholders such as government, opposition, businesses, and academia can rely on.
