Retract GYEEDA Advert...It Is Just A "Surreptitious Attempt To Reinvent" Prog - MAC

A group calling itself �Mass Action Committee� has asked Civil Society Organisation and Ghanaians at large to demand a retraction of an advert in the Daily Graphic, dated 3rd April 2014. A statement signed by Atik Mohammed, Spokesperson for the group, indicated that �advert in all conscience, betrays the essence of the directives given by the President and the purpose of the restructuring process. We also strongly suspect a subtle and surreptitious attempt to reinvent the �Old GYEEDA� by this singular act. To this end, we wish to use this medium to appeal to the President whose commitment to GYEEDA�s survival was made clear in this year�s State of the Nation�s address, to ensure a retraction of this so called advert�. Below is a copy of that statement PRESS STATEMENT ON GYEEDA�S ADVERTISMENT FOR PROPOSALS TO RUN THE ICT MODULE Good morning ladies and gentlemen, thank you for honoring our invitation to today�s press briefing. It is our hope that, whatever is said here will be given the desired prominence in your various outlets. Our encounter with you today is in respect of an issue that we believe strongly has courted the attention of all Ghanaians in recent times i.e the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA). It will be recalled that not long ago, revelations on the operations of GYEEDA came to the fore, generating a lot of public interest and anger. Subsequently, a Ministerial Committee was set up to conduct a review of the Agency�s activities over the period. Whereupon, a report was produced detailing all forms of �rot� that characterized the GYEEDA program, their extent and recommendations on the way forward. The President of the republic apparently alarmed by the outcome of the committee�s report and in response to public outcry about this subject matter, established the PV Obeng Committee to provide a roadmap finding expression in an Action Plan for the implementation of the committee�s recommendations. It is significant to note that, both the Ministerial and PV Obeng Committees asked that a number of activities be undertaken to ensure GYEEDA�s sustainability. These activities were to form the cornerstone upon which the future edifice of GYEEDA will be erected. They include the following; a. That the Agency undertakes a proper restructuring program with clear organogram and roles of personnel. b. That the requisite legal framework governing GYEEDA and its operations be established. c. More importantly, that a cost-benefit audit be conducted on the various modules to determine their future relevance to the original objects of the youth employment program. Consequently and quite commendably, a directive was given for the suspension of all modules. A new National Coordinator was also appointed to help in the sanitization and rebuilding of GYEEDA. Unfortunately and rather strangely ladies and gentlemen, before the restructuring and the other activities could begin, an advertisement was placed in the 3rd April 2014 issue of the Daily Graphic requesting bids for the running of the ICT module under GYEEDA. This advert bore names of the Agency and the National Coordinator as its owners. This advert in all conscience, betrays the essence of the directives given by the President and the purpose of the restructuring process. We also strongly suspect a subtle and surreptitious attempt to reinvent the �Old GYEEDA� by this singular act. To this end, we wish to use this medium to appeal to the President whose commitment to GYEEDA�s survival was made clear in this year�s State of the Nation�s address, to ensure a retraction of this so called advert. We further demand that the National Coordinator of GYEEDA should publicly speak to the authenticity or otherwise of the said advertisement since his office and GYEEDA were specifically mentioned in it. We also wish to appeal to the President, the sector Minister and the leadership of GYEEDA to make the process for module selection as transparent as it can humanly be when the necessary preconditions are all satisfied and the program is ready to take off again. In addition, the Agency must settle on those modules that are less in cost but high in utility to tackling the problem of youth unemployment. We also are calling on all Civil Society Organizations with interest in GYEEDA�s restructuring process, transparency and youth employment to speak up and demand with us an immediate retraction of the publication in question. We also wish to state that, we are giving GYEEDA officials a week to disclaim that advertisement or face our next line of action. We hope our plea will be heeded with dispatch. Thank you once again for coming, God Bless Ghana and God Bless us all. ���������� Atik Mohammed (Spokesperson)