Lawyer and activist, Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has responded sharply to an assertion that Ghana’s unemployment stems from an overreliance on government to create jobs, arguing that the claim misrepresents the intentions and realities of Ghana’s working-age population.
His reaction to the assertion made by the Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, challenges what he described as a “persistent pattern of political oversimplification” of a deeply structural crisis affecting young people and business owners across the country.
Barker-Vormawor grounded his counterargument in recent national data that contradicts the minister’s position. He highlighted that young Ghanaians are not overwhelmingly seeking public sector jobs, and that the narrative of dependency has been exaggerated for political convenience.
“I have seen this statement by the Minister for Labour blaming unemployment on people’s expectations for the Government to create jobs. And I wanted to share something with you. In Afrobarometer’s 2024 data, 61 percent of Ghanaians between 18-35 said they wanted to start their own business rather than be employed”
Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Lawyer and Activist
He further referenced how entrepreneurial ambition grows with age, especially among those with more work experience and responsibilities, arguing that this pattern undermines claims that citizens are unwilling to drive their own employment pathways.
According to him, the real problem lies not in expectation but in the failure of successive governments to deliver the reforms necessary for businesses to flourish in a fair and predictable environment.
Private Sector Constraints
Barker-Vormawor’s critique extended beyond Dr. Pelpuo’s comments, to what he described as decades of political rhetoric lacking in actionable follow-through. He reflected on campaign cycles in which governments repeatedly pledge private-sector-friendly reforms, only to assume office unequipped to deliver them.
“No reforms stick,” he complained, his frustration rooted in what he viewed as a chronic inability of state institutions to create stability for businesses, despite promising exactly that during elections.
He emphasised that public procurement, which should stimulate competitiveness and expansion among local enterprises, has instead become a conduit for politically connected actors to profit without contributing to sustainable job creation.
In Barker-Vormawor’s view, this distortion sidelines genuine entrepreneurs who lack political access and inflates the cost of governance.
“We cannot eat the pie, and turn around and ask citizens, why are they drinking tea without biscuits. As a business owner, I cannot tell you enough how hard it is to maintain a successful business that doesn’t depend on Government handouts; greasing palms and shady deals”
Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Lawyer and Activist
This lack of support, he argued, impoverishes both the state and the business ecosystem, making it nearly impossible for firms to scale, innovate, or hire at levels that match Ghana’s growing labour force. The consequences, he insisted, fall hardest on young people who enter a job market already structurally constrained.
Struggles of Small Business Owners
Drawing from personal experience as a law firm business owner, Barker-Vormawor painted a picture of the severe pressures faced by entrepreneurs who attempt to operate with integrity in an environment shaped by opaque procurement processes, shifting regulations, and limited access to capital.
He emphasised that many firms are forced into informal practices just to survive, and even those committed to ethical operations face financial strain that undermines their ability to fairly compensate their workers.
This reality, he argues, exposes the misconception embedded in the minister’s comment, since businesses themselves confront conditions that limit their capacity to create sustainable employment.
“All of my employees are chronically underpaid. Not because I desire this,” he admitted, noting the infuriating conditions that staying afloat comes with these days. His remarks highlighted that low wages are often a symptom of systemic weaknesses rather than employer unwillingness.
Barker-Vormawor further warned that this growing inability of businesses to sustain fair employment represents a national crisis, one that institutions such as the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), in his case, have failed to confront despite its impact on professional sectors.
Barker-Vormawor concluded his critique with a broader warning about Ghana’s economic trajectory if the government continues to overlook the true drivers of unemployment. He argued that the disconnect between political statements and lived realities “threatens not only the private sector but the stability of the nation’s social and economic fabric.”
In his view, addressing unemployment requires a shift from blaming citizens to implementing durable reforms that empower entrepreneurs, protect workers, and ensure fairness across the business landscape. He ended with a direct appeal, insisting that the crisis of joblessness and underemployment must be confronted with urgency.
“For how long must young people remain so unemployed and underemployed? Fix it,” he charged.
