Some beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) programme, who were previously engaged in the Youth In Afforestation programme, will be demonstrating for their allowance arrears for the past four months.
Ellen Acheampong, the spokesperson for the Disgruntled NaBCo recruits, told Kwabena Prah Jnr (The Don) on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Tuesday, 12 February 2019 that they have worked in various fields for the past four months without any stipend.
She explained that efforts to get the government to pay their arrears have proved futile, hence the planned demonstration.
Ms Acheampong noted that most of the affected recruits were previously engaged under the Youth In Afforestation programme and were receiving their allowances promptly from the Forestry Commission.
However, after they all resigned from the afforestation programme and joined NaBCo, they have been worse off.
“The only language the government will understand now is a demonstration. And, so, we are demonstrating tomorrow to send a message to the government in respect of our issues,” she said.
She added: “For the past four months, we have not been paid salary. How do they expect us to live our lives? We were paid on time when we were with the Youth In Afforestation under the supervision of the Forestry Commission but the story is not the same since we joined NaBCo.”
She further called on the Forestry Commission to come to their aid to ensure they are paid since they were once their employees.
Meanwhile, Joyce Ofori Kwafo, Public Relations Officer of the Forestry Commission, told The Don that: “All of them submitted their resignation letters and, so, we have no engagement with them.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1 May 2018, launched NaBCo, which has employed 100,000 young graduates to assist in public sector service delivery.
Mr Akufo-Addo said at the launch that: “NaBCo will be the vehicle to deliver one hundred thousand (100,000) jobs in seven (7) prioritised areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.