Mahama’s gov’t killing dreams of Ghana youth – NPP

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said it is unimpressed with the John Mahama administration over its policies for the Ghanaian youth.

According to the National Youth Organiser of the NPP Sammy Awuku, “under President Mahama, Youth employment has been left to chance and as a wing we fear for the security of Ghana.”

He stressed that the absence of a credible data on youth unemployment is “worrying.”

Below is the full statement issued by the NPP:

The National Youth Wing of the NPP has noted with grave dissatisfaction, the poor and incompetent manner with which President John Mahama recently addressed certain sensitive issues which boarder on the interest and welfare of the Ghanaian youth.

1. YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

The President during his last 'Meet the press' sadly mentioned that Ghana does not have the capacity to generate statistics on youth unemployment because Government is still relying on a Ghana- World bank collaborative programme which commenced as far back as 2007. It is a shame that after some 8years, the said collaboration has yielded no positive results as youth unemployment is at an all-time high. Indeed under President Mahama, Youth employment has been left to chance and as a wing we fear for the security of Ghana.

It is instructive to note that, the current National Employment Policy launched by the NDC government in 2015(7years in office) is without an action or implementation plan and we find that worrying.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AGENCY (YEA)

The revelation made by Joy FM’s investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure that close to 1 million Ghana cedis was spent on just one foreign trip by a four member government delegation to an international conference in Switzerland is mind-boggling.

We have sighted letters, and indeed the sector minister, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu has confirmed that the trip was actually funded from the coffers of the Youth Employment Agency, which was recently created by the NDC government to replace GYEEDA. We are all aware of the circumstances which warranted and characterised the creation of the YEA after GYEEDA was brought on it knees through the stinking corrupt activities of the Mahama led NDC.

It is hence shocking that President Mahama and his government will want a similar fate to befall the newly created Youth Employment Agency.

We at the National youth wing of the NPP find this as the most glaring pointer to how much President Mahama and his government are dead to the cries and pain of the teeming Ghanaian youth in the face of current unprecedented high unemployment levels and the ever worsening living conditions in our country.

It is sad that an Agency which was created to find jobs and support our already stressed youth would neglect its core mandate and delve into frivolities such as financing lavish and unproductive international trips.2.

TEACHER/NURSING TRAINEES

The President wants us to believe that the regular postings of nurses trained in public institutions have suffered because of a mix up with privately trained nurses. We humbly wish to know how come this so called mix-up has persisted so long to the extent that it had to warrant young graduate nurses to picket at the office of the president some few days ago.

As a wing, we share in the concerns and frustrations of these graduate nurses whose only crime is a burning and inordinate desire to serve the country of their birth. To this end we call on President Mahama to accept full responsibility and unconditionally apologize to the innocent young graduates who were arrested, brutalized and assaulted for making legitimate claims for postings around the seat of government.

Again, the wing wishes to use this opportunity to reaffirm, the NPPs commitment towards the restoration of the teacher/Nurses trainee allowance under an Akufo-Addo presidency.

CORRUPTION

It is obvious that President Mahama and his NDC government are hell bent on destroying the future of Ghana's youth with massive corruption and blatant thievery. The wanton and reckless dissipation of our meagre resources is destroying the future of the youth.

Almost every project being executed by the Mahama-led government is soaked in a pan of corruption. For example whiles in sometime last year, the MTN Foundation constructed a fully furnished six unit classroom block with an office and store in the Upper West Akyem district for 170,000 Ghana Cedis, the Ghana News Agency on November 8, 2015 reported that the Kpone Katamanso District Assembly had awarded a six unit classroom block at a whooping cost of 510,000 Ghana Cedis. Indeed Ghana under Mahama has now become the gateway to corruption. We are therefore least surprised that Ghana has in recent times been tagged on the cover page of an international magazine as the ‘The Republic of Corruption’.

The IEA, Economic Intelligence Unit, UK and many other credible groups, consistently posit the office of the president as highly corrupt.

CONCLUSION

It is increasingly clear, that this government is bent on turning the noble dreams of the teeming youth of this country into nightmares. Thus folding our arms and throwing our hands in despair will only go a long way in worsening our plight as young people. Let us restore hope and inspire confidence by ARISING for CHANGE.

Let us ORGANISE and MOBILISE for the credible alternative Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP presents.

Let’s secure our collective future by being AGENTS of and AGENTS for CHANGE.

Thank you and God bless the youth of Ghana.

Sammi Awuku

National Youth Organizer, NPP.

Salam Mustapha