The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has expressed deep concern over the alarming rise in unemployment rates in Ghana.

Recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service revealed an increase, with unemployment rates reaching 14.7 percent.

Speaking during his Building Ghana Tour in Accra on Wednesday, March 13, Mr Mahama stressed the urgent need to establish sustainable employment opportunities.

He thus highlighted the disproportionate impact on tertiary-educated individuals, who form a significant portion of the unemployed population.

Mr Mahama called on the incoming government to prioritise the implementation of policies aimed at creating genuine and sustainable employment.

He criticised the prevalence of temporary employment initiatives like NABCo, stating that they have failed to provide a lasting solution to unemployment.

“To have that 14.7% unemployment rate, tertiary-trained graduates are a bigger chunk than those below secondary and basic education, and so it is something that we need to look at. And so the next government’s major focus must be putting in policies that will create jobs, jobs, and jobs. And these should not be artificial jobs like we normally do; you do NABCo and you know that you have no sustainable place to put them after the three years when they graduate from NABCo, and yet, it is just done to win political points.

“[Government claims it has] given 100,000 young people jobs, and now when they finish the NABCo and you owe them nine months’ allowance arrears, and the government is refusing to pay them. And so we must aim more at sustainable jobs. And we can get those sustainable jobs in many places, including the agricultural value chain.”