The National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye aka Nana B, has said that the Youth Employment Agency’s (YEA) image has been enhanced under the able leadership of Mr. Sammi Awuku, Board Chairman, and Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong, the Chief Executive.
According to him, prior to 2017, YEA had lost its relevance because the former NDC government used the agency as Cash Cow to siphon millions of US Dollars; thereby relegating its job provision mandate to the background.
He stated that the agency has seen significant changes in its management strategies in the past two and half years since the new board and management took over the running of the agency.
“The appointment of Mr. Sammi Awuku was greeted with much cynicism and skepticism as members of the opposition NDC, based on his age, questioned his qualification for the job and downplayed his competence to revive and reposition the agency to be effective and efficient”, he revealed.
Touching on the attacks Sammi Awuku’s appointment attracted, Nana B stated that “the sterling performance of Sammi Awuku has not only silence his detractors but has established a solid precedence that, going forward, will form the basis for the consideration and appointment of the Ghanaian youth to assume top positions in government and politics.”
He however, said “indeed, Sammi Awuku is an African youth icon and a trailblazer. Since 2017, the agency has employed about 107,000 youth under varied modules which include Youth in Agriculture, Youth in Afforestation, Community Protection Personnel, etc.
The NPP National Youth Organiser hinted that the agency is set to launch four transformational initiatives with far-reaching solutions to youth unemployment in the country adding that the initiatives which will be launched on 2nd October, 2019 by the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Bawumia include the YEA Job Center, Artisan Directory, Flagship Projects and Work Abroad.
He mentioned that the primary goal of the Job Centre Ghana, a novelty and an all-encompassing concept, is to strategically position the Agency to serve as a one-stop shop to provide skills and connect job seekers to employers aimed at addressing the unemployment concerns of the youth of the country.
“Whiles the Agriculture-based flagship programme will be a development programme which will be initiated in various regions and districts focusing on the natural resource in the area, the Work Aboard programme will also enable the export of young professionals such as nurses and teachers, into other countries. These transformational initiatives are laudable as they focus on practical and high-impact solutions to unemployment”, he asserted.
