The running mate of NPP’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has conceded although it is not the primary responsibility of the government to create jobs, it has a responsibility to provide the necessary grounds for the private sector to create jobs.
The government has come under intense criticism for failing to met the expectation of the masses in job creation.
Even though President Mahama claims over 800,000 jobs have been created by his administration, the figure has been disputed by the opposition New Patriotic Party whilst many think the number is woefully inadequate.
Dr. Bawumia told Citi FM in Accra Friday that most people are without jobs because of government’s misplaced priority: focusing more on taxation instead of production.
“It is not the government really, fundamentally, that creates jobs, it is the private sector that really creates jobs; so what you are trying to do is to build an economy that has the incentive structure for the private sector to create jobs, and this is where we want to head,” he maintained.
He explained that government can achieve that by cutting down on the cost of doing business, interest rate and taxes in the country.
Failure to do that would not create the enabling environment for production which would in turn create jobs, he observed.
“There is lot of taxation on the economy and not enough on production,” Dr. Bawumia stressed.
The NPP vice presidential candidate also chided the government for not using bulk of what it borrows for investment but rather on consumption.
Story by Isaac Essel | 3news.com
