DCE calls on young parliamentarians to deliberate on vital issues

Samuel Kwame Agyekum, the Asuogyaman District Chief Executive (DCE), has called on members of the Asuogyaman Youth Parliament to deliberate on vital social concerns confronting the district.

He said areas such as education, drug abuse, sanitation, child abuse and teenage pregnancy should be addressed through meaningful debates at their meetings.

He also advised the members of the Youth Parliament to study the standing orders that guide their debates in order to make informed contributions.

Mr Agyekum said this when he addressed the inauguration of the Asuogyaman Youth Parliament at Atimpoku.

The newly inaugurated Youth Parliament has a membership of 81 people made up of students, leaders of youth groups, individuals and elected assembly members below 35 years of age.

The Youth Parliament is made up of 55 per cent on the side of the majority and 45 on the minority side.

The Youth Parliament concept was introduced by the National Youth Authority (NYA) and their district offices in the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

The Youth Parliament is intended to empower the youth and help in the consolidation of Ghana’s democracy.

It is also intended to partner youth development workers to ensure the realization of the goals of the national youth policy.

The programme is expected to inculcate in the youth the values of democratic system of governance through the appreciation of the relevance of legislative systems in the promotion of democratic governance.

Mr Agyekum said the programme would provide opportunities for education, appreciation and participation in the decision-making process on issues that affect them while instilling in them the communal spirit.

He said the involvement of the youth in the governance process would offer them the platform to harness the qualitative strength of the youth for accelerated national development.

Mr Pascal Assan Edwards, the Director in charge of Youth Resource Centers at the NYA, said the Authority is looking at using the youth to advance development so there is the need to get a Youth Parliament in every district in the country.

He said the motive is to give the youth an opportunity to have a say in the governance process and have their own platform to share their opinions on issues regarding development in their various localities.

Mr Edwards said the youth are also encouraged to take up the challenge of looking at the activities of the district and sharing their opinions on relevant issues affecting them.

Mrs Marian Mansa Minnah, the Acting Eastern Regional Director of NYA, said the most certain approach to imbibing the values, principles and culture of democracy in the Ghanaian society and Africa, is to inculcate into the youth as future leaders, the culture of democracy.

She said the idea of the youth parliament would instil into the youth the spirit of co-operation and non-aggression in pursuing any perceived injustices.

The Members of the Youth Parliament elected as the First Speaker of the Asuogyaman Youth Parliament, Rutherford Ameyaw, while the First Deputy Speaker is Herbert Serlom and the Second Deputy Speaker is George Ams Charmey.

The Parliament elected Mr Kofi Asante Mensah as the Majority Leader and Mr Issah Lawal as the Deputy Majority Leader.

Mr Julius Appiah Kwaku was elected as the Minority Leader and Ms Cecelia Akonor as the Deputy Minority Leader.