The government has dismissed claims that it has plans to freeze recruitment into the public service. It explained that institutions where there were vacancies would be allowed to fill them with people with the requisite qualifications and experience. A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic yesterday, also said there were ministries and institutions such as the Ghana Statistical Service, Ministries of Tourism, Chieftaincy, Education and Health, as well as the Attorney-General's Department, where vacancies currently existed and indicated that they had been asked to employ people to fill them. On Tuesday, August 4, 2009, the Alliance for Accountable governance AFAG, a pressure group, and other identifiable groups stage a demonstration in Accra and claimed among others that the government had the intention to freeze employment for three years. But Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa debunked these claims and said it was untenable for people to claim that the government had placed a freeze on employment and wondered how the hospitals and schools could function, if there were a freeze on employment. He said the educational and health institutions would continue with their mass recruitment programmes. The deputy minister said contrary to claims that there would be no recruitment into the public service, recruitment was ongoing across the country in some institutions and ministries that had not reached their threshold. He said, however, that even areas that had reached their threshold would begin recruitment immediately ghost names were expunged from the payroll and there were retirements at such places. Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said the government had introduced an innovation aimed at creating jobs, particularly for the youth in the rural areas. He announced that the National Service Secretariat would increase its intake this year with the recruitment of 230 research assistants for Members of Parliament (MP) and 166 districts tourism officers. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to create jobs for the majority of the people, particularly the youth. The deputy minister said the government’s Youth in Agriculture programme was on course, and that there were plans to roll out other innovations aimed at creating jobs for the people. He said the government would by the close of this year import 2000 tractors from Brazil to support the programme. "The government has renewed its commitment to the youth in fulfilling "our better Ghana" agenda inline with our social democratic principles," he added. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana