Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has labelled government’s efforts at tackling Ghana’s unemployment challenges with the launch of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) as “political propaganda tool” aimed at hoodwinking Ghanaians into retaining it in power in 2020.
“This is not employment. This is just a stopgap, adhoc measure to create the impression that government is doing something about unemployment in the country,” he said on Newsfile on Joy News Saturday.
Fuseini joins the tall list of NDC stalwarts not enthused by the NaBCo programme which was launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo on May Day to address Ghana’s teething graduate unemployment.
NaBCo will operate seven modules designed to meet the pressing needs of the nation while providing jobs for the teeming youth who have received tertiary education but are struggling to find jobs.
The modules include the Feed Ghana module where people serve as agric extension officers to help our farmers. There’s also the Educate Ghana module where people will teach science and mathematics in High schools. The Revenue Ghana module will take graduates into the Ghana Revenue Authority to help in the collection of revenue among others.
“I think that I have a fundamental difficulty in understanding the conceptual basis for this progamme,” Fuseini told host Samson Lardy Anyenini. “It is simply part of the inefficiencies of government,” he added.
Government, according to him, following the launch of NaBCo “is clearly allocating our resources poorly” which will lead to taking on board too much expenditure that might not result in any meaningful impact on the lives of the people.
NaBCo will be a success
But commenting on the same programme, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako Jnr. disagreed despite stating that he is not surprised by the cynicism and skepticism that the NaBCo programme appeared to have generated from its critics.
“In deed, it is to be expected,” he told Anyenini.
NaBCo, he said will will be a success noting: “I’m not one of those who think that Ghanaians are incapable inherently in making things work.”
“So, whilst we have a history of failures relative to such projects, I’m confident and optimistic that we still have Ghanaians who given the opportunity are capable of delivering and surpassing and making failures of the past look nothing,” he stated.
According to him, description of the programme as a sham is untenable as the president never stated anywhere that it will be a substitute for the government’s quest to create sustainable jobs for the teeming unemployed graduates.
More than 1.2 million persons from 15 years and older are estimated to be unemployed, representing the total unemployment rate of 11.9%, according to a 2015 Ghana Labour Force Survey Report.
Of this number, about 714,916 are females, representing 57.2 per cent and 535,997 for males representing 42.8%, the survey commissioned by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) stated.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
