Sex for Jobs at NYEP -Boss Fired

The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) coordinator for Bibiani-Anwianso-Bekwai district in the Western region who abused his office by having sex with female employees has been sacked with immediate effect.

Abdul Samad Mohammed, a former Junior High School (JHS) teacher, was dismissed on Monday when the disciplinary committee of NYEP at the national headquarters in Accra sat on his alleged sexual assault of female employees of the programme.

A female employee of the programme at the Bibiani-Anwianso-Bekwai district (name withheld) dropped a bombshell when she alleged that Samad Mohammed agreed to employ her after she gave 10 to his sexual advances.

According to the 22 year old lady, the district co-ordinator emphatically made it clear to her that he would only offer her employment as secretary at the district office, if only she agreed to have sex with him. She noted that because she was desperately looking for a job to survive, she decided to kowtow to the sexual demands of the district co-ordinator and that she had three separate unprotected sex with Samad Mohammed before she landed the job.

The lady, who claimed that she decided to come public on the matter because Samad Mohammed sacked her after just two months on the job and refused to pay her salary, alleged that she was not the only victim and that so many girls working with the" programme in the district had suffered the same ordeal. To establish the veracity of the accusation, the national deputy co-ordinator of NYEP, Alhaji Alhassan Tapsoba, promised that the disciplinary committee of the programme would sit on the case at the national headquarters and make the findings public.

In an interview with Daily Guide, Tapsoba said after listening to the allegation, the committee presided over by Abuga Pele, national co-ordinator of the programme, arrived at the decision to sack Samad Mohammed. Alhaji Tapsoba disclosed that the district coordinator, at the committee's sitting, confessed to having sex with the 22-year-old now unemployed lady but pleaded for forgiveness, promising not to repeat such an action.

He noted that the committee, in spite of the passionate pleas of Samad Mohammed, did not change its mind because it wanted to send a strong signal to officials in charge of the programme that indecent behaviour would not be tolerated. Due to the fact that the dismissal was scheduled to take immediate effect, the deputy district coordinator of the programme, Patrick Nelson, has been directed to take over until a substantive coordinator is appointed.

The national deputy co-ordinator disclosed that the committee also ordered the dismissed district coordinator to pay the two months' salary of the 22-year-old lady with his own resources as a punishment for engaging an employee illegally.

Alhaji Tapsoba explained that the engagement of the 22year-old lady was unlawful in the sense that the national office was not aware of it, hence the lady’s inability to secure appointment from the national headquarters. He indicated that if Samad Mohammed failed to pay the salary of the lady as directed by the committee, the national office would deduct the money from the three months' pay that would be given to him and the amount paid to the girl.

Meanwhile, an attempt to contact both the dismissed district coordinator and the 22year-old lady who resides at Aboabo Number One in Kumasi, proved futile as the phones of the two parties were all off.