NPP manifesto launch: Here are the inconsistencies in the number of jobs created by Gov’t

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) Women Commissioner Aspirant, Alice Yakubu who represented the youth during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto launch on August 18 said the government has created 21 million jobs.

During her presentation, she commended the government’s digitization efforts and urged the youth to use social media to promote the NPP’s flagbearer, Dr Bawumia, to secure a better future for Ghana.

Fact-Check Ghana has verified her claim about the number of jobs the government has created and presents the facts below.

Claim: “Already our NPP government has created about 21 million jobs truly which is a remarkable achievement, especially in the face of global challenging economy that has caused COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War.”

Verdict: Completely False

Explanation: The claims regarding the number of jobs created under the Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia administration have been inconsistent from government officials, particularly from Vice President Dr Bawumia.

In April 2023, while addressing NPP supporters in the Eastern Region, Dr Bawumia stated, “I have been looking at the data lately, and the NPP has created 2.1 million jobs,” contrasting it with what he described as the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) creation of unemployment.

However, on December 1, 2023, during the launch of the YouStart project—an initiative aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurship skills of the youth—Dr Bawumia said the government had created over two million jobs in the past seven years.

He reiterated this figure on December 11, 2023, at an entrepreneurship program in the Bono Region.

These figures from Dr Bawumia differ from statistics given by other government officials. On November 15, 2023, former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta told Parliament during a budget presentation that the government had created more than 2.3 million jobs.

Meanwhile, Employment Minister Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, in September 2022, stated that the government had created 5.3 million jobs since assuming office in 2017, attributing his figures to data from various ministries, departments, and agencies.

In contrast, on February 7, 2024, when Dr Bawumia unveiled his vision for the country as part of his 2024 election campaign, he insisted that despite the global economic crisis, his government had created 2.1 million jobs between 2017 and 2022. He cited data from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

However, a Fact-Check Ghana Right to Information request to SSNIT in February 2024 revealed otherwise. According to SSNIT, the total number of new contributors from 2017 to 2022 was 1,542,592. Based on the above information, Fact-Check Ghana flagged the Vice President and other government officials’ claims of creating over 2 million jobs as baseless and without evidence.

Alice Yakubu’s claim that the government created about 21 million jobs multiplies the data presented by the presidential candidate of the NPP by about 10.

Aside from the data provided by SSNIT, Fact-Check Ghana does have not any reliable data on the number of jobs created by the government since 2017. However, Miss Yakubu’s claim underscores the inconsistencies by government officials on the number of jobs they have created.