NYEP not based on partisanship - Minister

Accra, July 25, GNA - Outgoing Minister of Manpower Youth and Employment, Abubakar Boniface Saddique on Wednesday expressed regret that the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) aimed at reducing unemployment had taken a partisan twist.

He said the recruitment for the programme was not based on partisanship but availability of vacancies and qualification of applicants.

Giving an overview of the NYEP at a conference for Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Accra, he said the programme was to give the youth work experience and opportunity to win admiration for hard work and get employment.

Mr. Saddique noted that engaging the youth in gainful ventures was one of the best things to happen to any nation as a productive youth was a valuable asset of every nation.

"Any nation with a high number of untrained youth had a bleak future," he said and added that if the tables were not turned attaining the middle income status would be a mirage.

Mr. Saddique said there was therefore the need to package the youth to avoid vulnerability and it was for this reason that government rolled out the NYEP to avoid a national catastrophe. "Ghana is the only country in Africa that has rolled out 10 modules under the programme as compared to two, being the highest other countries have done," he said The minister explained that the NYEP should not be seen as permanent employment.

The programme, Mr Saddique said, had successfully employed a total of 103,000 youth in modules such as community protection, agribusiness, community education, teaching assistants, paid internship, volunteer service, health extension, waste and sanitation.

He said trade and vocation and Information Communication Technology (ICT) modules would be rolled out soon and announced under the trade and vocation modules both the literate and illiterate would be given the opportunity to unearth their potentials.

Mr Saddique said the NYEP was funded through 15 per cent of the District Assemblies' Common Fund, 10 per cent from the road fund, 10 per cent from the GETfund, 10 per cent from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), five percent from the HIPC fund and the rest from budgetary allocation.

On challenges, the minister observed that inadequate funds to implement planned activities, repayment of invested funds, acquisition of land for farming, lukewarm attitude of some District Chief Executives towards the programme and negative media publicity were some of major problems facing the programme.

Nonetheless, the minister said, a policy on the NYEP and national employment were to be submitted to cabinet for thorough examination before being sent to parliament to be passed into law to help straighten all rough edges of the programme and to make it sustainable. 25 July 07