The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of Labour Department (LaD) of the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment has explained its core mandate, some of which are oblivious to the citizenry.
Established on April 1, 1938 the Labour Department has a long and distinguished history of serving the people of Ghana in promoting employment by ensuring decent work opportunities for Ghanaians and a quality workforce for employers.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Frank Agyei-Boakye, Senior Labour Officer, LaD-Ashanti Region disclosed that historically, the Department is primarily a public agency for employment, a role that made its offices across the country bustling hubs, where long queues of job seekers is a common sight.
He noted that through its services, countless individuals have secured livelihoods, firmly establishing the Department’s public reputation around matching job seekers with employers.
The Senior Labour Officer revealed that while this “placement function” is the most widely recognised, the Department’s mandate is far broader, emphasising its key role, though less known, involves facilitating occupational and geographical mobility.
The department, he said, thus adjusts the supply of labour to meet demand in various sectors and assisting individuals in relocating to regions with suitable employment opportunities.
To harness the potential of labour migration and mitigate its risks, Mr. Agyei-Boakye disclosed that the Labour Department promotes decent work through regular migration pathways and employment support for returning migrants, revealing that a significant partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German Corporation for International Cooperation, has been instrumental in the effort.
- Agyei-Boakye added that the establishment of the “Ghanaian-European Centre for Jobs, Migration and Development” in Accra, has led to the integration of migration desk offices within all of the Department’s 16 regional Public Employment Centres (PECs).
The objective of the work of the migration desks is to enable clients to make a well informed migration choice and to support returning migrants in their economic reintegration.
To this end, the migration desks constitute an easily accessible service hub for all matters related to regular migration and reintegration, where clients can access relevant information and be counselled and referred to specific service providers.
The Senior Labour Officer also disclosed that GIZ had also provided ongoing support through tools and capacity building, enhancing the staff’s ability to serve clients effectively, citing the migration desk at the Kumasi PEC, which provides counselling on regular pathways for migration, for education or employment, particularly among those who want to migrate to Germany or Europe in general.
He also disclosed that his outfit actively conducts outreach programmes through radio stations, schools and communities to educate the public on safe migration practices, stressing that despite these efforts, a significant portion of the population are yet to be reached, hence the need to step up information and education on the Department’s vital services.
From Oswald P. Freiku, Kumasi
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