The Youth Bridge Foundation (YBF) has revealed an accountability framework aimed at tracking and evaluating the government’s commitment to fulfilling its promises to young people in Ghana. This initiative, on the back of the launch of a Policy Brief on the 2024 Youth Sensitivity Analysis of Political Party Manifestos, seeks to hold leaders accountable for campaign pledges and budgetary allocations affecting youth development.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the launch, Board Secretary of YBF’s Youth Advisory Board, Mawuena Azumah, stressed that the framework would focus on monitoring political promises and ensuring that government actions reflect the needs of young people.
“We have set up a youth accountability call that will drive YBF’s efforts to track government commitments. Already, the NDC has fulfilled one of its campaign promises by decoupling the Ministry of Youth and Sports, but there is still a long way to go,” she told Starr News.
The Policy Brief on the 2024 Youth Sensitivity Analysis, commissioned by YBF, assessed the manifestos of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), and Movement for Change (M4C), measuring how well their policies align with youth aspirations.
The brief highlights key concerns regarding employment, education, entrepreneurship, governance participation, health, and social inclusion while raising serious doubts about the actual implementation of these promises.
Despite, concluding that the manifestos align broadly with youth aspirations, such as job creation, entrepreneurship, and digital skills development, a major issue raised in the report is the lack of concrete action plans, timelines, and accounttability structures for the youth-related policies.
The report warns that without proper oversight, these promises risk becoming mere campaign rhetoric with no real impact.
“There are limited indications of how these initiatives will be assessed. Although outcomes are implied, there is a need for clear timelines and accountability structures,” excerpts of the report states.
Another concern highlighted is the risk of political hijacking and corruption in youth programs. The report notes that in previous administrations, youth-targeted initiatives have often been monopolized by politically affiliated individuals, leaving many young people excluded from opportunities. The fear is that without transparent selection and implementation processes, these programs may serve party interests rather than the broader youth population.
Additionally, funding inadequacies and sustainability challenges pose a significant threat to the success of these initiatives. Many of the proposed interventions, such as the NPP’s Digital Economy Hub, the NDC’s Adwumawura Programme, and M4C’s Youth Industrial Ventures, according to the report require substantial investment. However, the report raises concerns about whether these programs will receive adequate and sustained funding, or if resources will be spread too thinly across multiple initiatives, reducing their overall effectiveness.
As the Government is set to read its first National Budget on March 11, YBF has vowed to scrutinize the 2025 budget to ensure that sufficient allocations are made toward sectors critical to youth development.
“If you read the policy brief, you will see that young people want the government to prioritize employment, education, and agriculture. We will be tracking budget allocations to these areas,” Mawuena Azumah emphasized.
Meanwhile, author of the report and Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Justice Bawole, noted that although the days of traditional demonstrations in the country seems to be dwindling, today’s youth have powerful tools at their disposal to demand accountability compared to previous generations.
“Young people today can use social media to track and pressure political parties. They can “press the necks” of political leaders to respond to their concerns,” he remarked.
Despite acknowledging the importance of youth engagement in politics as part of the process of ensuring accountability, Prof. Bawole cautioned against blind loyalty to political parties, urging young people to prioritize issue-based advocacy over partisan interests.
“Political alignment is not the issue. The problem is when young people in political parties fail to hold their own leaders accountable,” he cautioned.
As the government prepares to roll out the 2024 budget, YBF’s accountability framework will play a crucial role in ensuring that promises made to young Ghanaians are fulfilled. The foundation plans to engage policymakers and civil society organizations to ensure that youth concerns remain central to governance and national development.
