Mr Mark Woyongo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central on Thursday paid tribute to the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) for creating more jobs for the youth in the region.
The MP, who is also the Defense Minister, made the commendation at Navrongo during the presentation of start-up kits to 73 hair dressers who had passed out after one year training in hairdressing.
He said for the past three years GYEEDA formally known as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), in partnership with Asongtaba Cottage Industry had provided skills development training programmes in various vocational modules including mechanics, basket weavers, seamstress, hairdressing, and guinea fowl rearing among others.
“What makes me so happy about the programme is that the situation where the youth in the Region used to travel to the southern parts and neigbouring countries like Burkina Faso , Togo and Mali to look for greener pastures and often end up with diseases has reduced drastically”, the MP noted.
Mr woyongo said plans were far advanced by an Indian Company to expand rice production at Navrongo and also another Company that was to go into vegetable farming.
“It is my prayer and conviction that when all these are concretized it would create more jobs. It is also my hope that with the government’s numerous interventions of bridging the North-South gap, one day the three northern Regions will be turned into a paradise where people from the southern parts of the country will travel to, to seek for greener pastures here”.
Mr Karim Mumin, Navrongo Municipal Coordinator of GYEEDA, said the programme had helped to reduce social vices in many communities and debunked the notion raised by some that the programme was not yielding any positive impact.
Mr Lambert Wumnaya, Project Coordinator of Asongtaba Cottage Industry, admonished the youth who had not yet been engaged in the programme and were idling to do so and announced that it would be introducing new modules which would include auto mechanics, and guinea fowl rearing.
The District Chief Executive for the area, Mr Emmanuel Andema, warned the beneficiaries not to sell out their start-up kits, that are meant to help them start their businesses, but utilize them for the intended purpose.
