Spokesperson for the United Party, Solomon Owusu, has urged the government to ensure that the import of chicken is reduced.
It was his view that this would ensure the Nkoko Nktinkiti project succeeds.
Recently, President John Dramani Mahama described the ‘Nkoko Nkitikiti’ project as a national movement. He made the statement when he launched the flagship agricultural policy in Kumasi on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
This is a nationwide program aimed at revolutionising the poultry industry to create jobs and boost exports.
The ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ project formed a key part of the NDC 2024 campaign. A national plan designed to drive agricultural transformation, food sovereignty, and shared prosperity.
The project is expected to cut the 300 million dollars Ghana spends annually on importing frozen chicken. It is a 3million-bird project, and it is expected to benefit 55,000 households.
Contributing to a discussion on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, December 20, in relation to the new labour reports released by the Ghana Statistical Service, he said, Solomon Owusu said “Nkoko Nkitikiti is a brilliant idea but that policy will fail if you allow politicians and party financiers to import dead chickens.”
For his part, Lawyer Abrahama Amlaiba, who is also a leading member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called for huge investments in skills training, small and medium-scale enterprises and agriculture as a way of tackling the unemployment rate in Ghana.
The Director General of the National Road Safety Authority recognises that unemployment is a serious situation that must be tackled aggressively.
Contributing to a discussion on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, December 20, in relation to the new labour reports released by the Ghana Statistical Service, he said, “The unemployment situation is a significant and persistent issue worldwide, and we have millions of people seeking jobs. What causes unemployment? A number of things. When you know what causes, then you know how to provide solutions.
“Technological advancements also affect employment. Now, machines, robots are doing the work. Globalisation also creates unemployment because jobs go where there is cheap labour, and economic fluctuations. The solution, part of it, is looking at agriculture and skills training. Vocational skills are what we should be looking at to ensure people acquire skills.”
He added, “Resource SMEs, provide them with capital to absorb the teeming unemployed youth.”
Also commenting on the same show, Lawyer Martin Kpebu said that the growing unemployment rate in Ghana poses a national security threat. He makes the point that it’s not an enviable position for the government to be saddled with a high rate of unemployment.
In order to resolve the unemployment rate, Martin Kpebu suggested that the government prioritise investment in agriculture. “It’s not an enviable position at all to be in government and be saddled with huge unemployment. Unemployment is a national security threat, has been threatening since the late 90s.
“Why can’t we just ramp up agriculture with the huge arable lands we have. We have so much land, and once we have land, we should solve,” he said.
The Ghana Statistical Service has said that despite the strong employment numbers, job quality remains a major challenge.
It stated that more than two-thirds of employed persons were in vulnerable employment, particularly women, rural workers, and those engaged in Agriculture.
The Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, said this when he released the Labour Force Statistics 2025 Quarters 1 to 3, in Accra on Thursday, December 18.
He further stated that own-account work continued to dominate, indicating limited access to secure wage employment and persistent informality. These patterns highlight that employment growth alone does not guarantee economic security or resilience for households.
Unemployment and Youth Outcomes Unemployment remained relatively stable but elevated, particularly among young people, he added.
The national unemployment rate edged down slightly to 12.8% in First Quarter 2025 from 13.1% in Fourth Quarter of 2024, eased further to 12.6% in Second Quarter 2025, and then rose to 13.0% in Third Quarter 2025.
“The key message here is that jobs are increasing, but unemployment rate is not falling in a sustained way. New job creation is still not fast enough to absorb new entrants, especially young people and urban job seekers.
“Youth unemployment consistently exceeded the national average, with the highest rates (32.4%) recorded among persons aged 15 to 24. In addition, about 21.5 percent of young people aged 15–24 were not in employment, education, or training (NEET).
“This represents a significant loss of productive potential and underscores the urgency of targeted youth employment and skills interventions. Urban unemployment remained higher than rural unemployment, and females continued to experience higher unemployment rates than males,” he said.
