We Understated Jobs Created― Wereko-Brobbey

Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr. Bright Wereko-Brobbey has defended the latest figures released by government on the creation of over one million jobs adding that, his ministry had understated the exact number.

According him, there were several jobs created by the Akufo-Addo administration that were not captured in the ministry’s report.

Speaking on Accra based Citi FM, Yesterday, Mr Wereku-Brobbey was optimistic the figures would indeed see a substantial increase in the coming weeks.

“The numbers that we have given you in the next week or two are likely to even go up. Even yesterday, a lot of agencies called our office and said that oh, you created such number of jobs and you didn’t come here…the figure we have given Ghanaian is on the modest side,” he indicated.

The Deputy minister said his ministry was awaiting a more substantive employment data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), which according to him would allay the doubts of Ghanaians and shut the mouth of critics.

“… If the Ghana Statistical Service brings it to us, then we will have a scientific basis and a comprehensive report which will capture the kinds of things you want to see. For now, we are telling you that this people have gotten jobs and they are enjoying and they are having salaries at the end of every month,” he insisted.

NABCO Stipend To be Taxed

Meanwhile, Mr Wereku-Brobbey has revealed that the stipend of GH¢700 which would be paid to beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) on a monthly basis would be taxed.

According to him, the amount is considered as salaries of which tax and SSNIT contributions would be deducted.

“The concept of taxation is that, any amount you earn, you would pay taxes on it,” the deputy minister noted.

NABCO not YEA

Mr Wereku-Brobbey says that NABCO is not a duplication of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) as critics had claimed.

According to him, NABCO would only target persons who have attained education at the tertiary level.

“When we take the health sector for example, it is one area that I know they have a lot of different categories of workers in the health sector and for some of them who have SHS certificate, we can be running them…for some of them you need to have a certificate or degree in a discipline before you can be put there [NABCO],” he emphasized.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]