The Member of Parliament for Pru East in the Brong Ahafo Region, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has urged the government to address the problem of youth unemployment in the country as it poses a security threat to the country.
According to Dr. Donkor, the idle hands of unemployed youth are “effective tools for mischief” and the government has a responsibility to adequately and urgently deal with the problem.
“As long as young, educated youthful people are unemployed, we will have a security challenge on our hands.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ZoSKALrMITguVPTkKPEOKiM36wWY5isg”]A report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) revealed that about 74 million young people in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are unemployed.
President Mahama, in June, stated that government was on track to reduce the rate of youth unemployment in the country, however, Dr. Donkor believes a lot more needs to be done to address the situation in the interest of all the citizens in the country.
According to him, youth unemployment cannot be ignored and “it is in our collective self –interest to help people get work so that they have little time to think relatively of mischief.”
The idle hand is an effective tool for mischief,” he told Citi News. And no matter how high the walls we construct around our minds, those walls cannot protect us.”
Government’s attempt to create modules to temporarily engage the youth in some form of employment, especially GYEEDA and SADA has been plagued with massive corruption scandals.
Meanwhile President John Mahama has launched the Youth Enterprise Support Initiative (YES).
GH ₵10million has been set aside for this fund and any Ghanaian youth with brilliant ideas can be supported to start a business.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @eddiekkofi