Story; Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale.
A former first Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has called for urgent steps to review the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
She noted that although the programme was laudable it fell short of addressing the challenges of the youth in job and wealth creation.
Addressing hundreds of NDC supporters at the Jubilee Park to mark the 31st anniversary celebration of June 4, Nana Konadu who is also a Vice Chairperson of the NDC pointed out that “the NYEP is not working the way it should and we must restructure this aspect of our development agenda for the maximum benefit of the youth”.
According to her, the programme lacked sufficient funding because its funding was not provided largely by central government.
She explained that because it lacked sufficient funding, the programme could not cover a significant number of the teeming unemployed youth in the country.
Nana Konadu equally observed that most of the youth lacked employable skills saying “we must make the youth the center of our development policies”.
She expressed regret that most of the youth in the country were jobless although they had acquired degrees and master degrees from the various universities in the country.
She intimated that the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the NDC under former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings had the vision to create a middle income group between 1982 and the year 2000.
She noted that such a vision was aimed at addressing most of the challenges the youth go through in acquiring jobs and earning decent incomes to ameliorate their sufferings.
Nana Konadu stressed that it was important for the government to give the youth hope by putting in place short, medium and long term programmes.
“Policy makers must understand that 70 percent of the country’s population below 35 years and the only way to make that segment of our population survive is by putting in place programmes that can brighten their future” she advised.
She further stated that “the youth cannot wait for us to discuss their problems while they suffer; in other words policy makers must look at ways of improving their conditions in the short term while implementing the long term programmes.
The former first Lady however entreated the youth to acquire employable skills in masonry, carpentary, dressmaking, batik, tie and dye making and other vocations.
Touching on the June four celebrations she pointed out that the revolution gave opportunity to people to assert themselves and justified the need for its celebration inspite of criticisms against it.
The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Kofi Adam said June four “energized people and instilled in them communal spirit”.
He warned against “nation wreckers and political detractors” of the NDC and entreated the rank and file of the NDC to do an in-house cleaning exercise to ensure that the party endeared itself to the electorate.
A former Health Minister in President Rawlings regime, Mr. Samuel Nuamah-Donkor observed that the improvement in infrastructure and basic social amenities like the roads and electricity in the north as well as the construction of first class hospitals in Sunyani, Ho and Cape Coast were clear manifestation of the benefits of June 4.
“The ideals of June 4 which are probity, honesty and accountability are still relevant today” he stressed.
Other speakers at the programme include the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr. San Nasamu Asabigi, the National Women’s Organizer of the NDC, Hajia Zenabu Mahama, Mr. Herbert Mensah, and other party gurus.
They all lauded the ideals of the revolution and noted that it formed a solid foundation on which the country’s democracy thrived.
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