‘Working for an hour is a job’ – Kwakye Ofosu

Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has defended government’s job creation drive saying per the International Labour Organisation’s definition of a job, even if a person earned a wage from a fleeting job created by the government, it still qualified as a job.

A statement released by Mr. Kwakye Ofosu’s boss, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah gave a comprehensive breakdown of the jobs, which had been created through direct government interventions and by partnerships with the private sector.

Critics of the government, however, argue that most of the jobs the government claims it has created were temporary.

But speaking to Class News, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu debunked claims that the jobs were project-based and not sustainable employment ventures.

“The Skills Development Fund, the EDIF (Export Development Investment Fund) money that has gone to the expansion of pharmaceutical companies, these are companies that will exist for some time,” he stated.

“Yes, it is true that companies fold up every now and then, but government cannot be faulted for not having done what needed to be done to ensure that employment was generated then.

“Again the International Labour Organisation (ILO) itself defines a job as an engagement that goes beyond one hour. In other words, if you are given a job for an hour and you earn a wage, it is classified as a job.

“Again, for construction-related projects, no professional, no engineer or architect or draftsman works on one project for a lifetime. They move from project to project and invariably, the experiences that they gain in working on one project come in handy for them to be engaged in another project and development can never cease.

“Long after President Mahama has left, projects will be embarked upon. So, it is not a case that a government is going to stop in engaging in construction projects today.”