Mahama’s claim on youth unemployment completely false

The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has claimed that the current government has no solutions to Ghana’s youth unemployment as the rate has jumped from ‘‘8.4% to 14.7% in just 8 years’’ making it the highest youth unemployment rate to date.

Mr Mahama said this during a media encounter in Sunyani, the capital of the Bono Region on September 11, 2024.

Fact-Check Ghana has verified this claim and presents its findings below

Claim: “The current government has no panacea for the youth unemployment because they’ve taken the unemployment rate from 8.4% to 14.7% in just 8 years.”

Verdict: False

Explanation:

 The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS)  Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) for the third quarter of 2023 which was published in February 2024 puts the total youth unemployment rate in the country at 21.4 percent. This represents the unemployment rate for people aged 15-35 years.

The GSS explained that the AHIES is designed to present employment statistics to support policy formulation and planning, aligning with national development agendas concerning the country’s labour force.

A previous report by the GSS on the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) from October 2016 to October 2017 puts the total youth unemployment rate at was at 12.6 percent. This survey which provides crucial information for understanding and monitoring living conditions in Ghana, was the seventh round of a nationwide household survey. Released in 2019, it measured various aspects of living conditions, including the youth (aged 15-35 years) unemployment rate in the country.

From the above information, Mr Mahama’s claim that the youth unemployment rate was 8. during his tenure is false. Mr Mahama also understated the current rate of unemployment figure of 21.4 %.