Labour expert Austin Gamey has criticized the long-standing failure to implement a proper system for tracking employment data, describing it as a “waste of time”.
According to him, Ghana’s Labour Law has mandated this process since 2003, yet little progress has been made.
Speaking on Prime News on ABC News GH on Monday, February 10, Mr. Gamey stated, “It’s a good reminder by Kojo Nkrumah. And when it is implemented, it will give a real signal as to what should be done and not to be done. It will also serve as a real database for the National Development Planning Committee to plan with clear-cut statistics.”
He emphasized that the failure to track labour data stems from negligence in enforcing the law.
“It has been in the Labour Law since 2003. LI 1833 should have been properly implemented, but it was not. We have talked about it, and it is part of the plan to do it.”
Mr. Gamey further stated that prioritizing labour statistics could lead to immediate job creation. “If the President and the ministry are mindful about it, it can create jobs by itself almost immediately—maybe that will be the beginning of the 24-hour economy,” he suggested.
His remarks follow a call by Ofoase Ayirebi MP, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, urging newly appointed Minister for Labour, Jobs, and Employment, Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, to establish an independent office for labour statistics. Mr. Nkrumah argued that without a centralized data system, successive governments have struggled to provide accurate employment figures.
Beyond statistics, Mr. Gamey also called for structural reforms in the ministry, stating, “The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission will have to give way to a better system. When that is changed and connects with the labour statistics aspect, you will see a real change in this country. Some of the so-called informal sectors will be driven into the formal sector as well.”
