The Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, has indicated that the current Akufo-Addo administration has taken a bold step to prioritize youth empowerment and development.
Mr. Asiamah pointed out that for many years, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been accused of focusing largely on sports at the expense of youth development.
“But this government has realized that unskilled youth are a key challenge confronting the nation, and it’s an area my ministry is bent on tackling,” he indicated.
According to him, the growing unemployment rate among the youth in Ghana was very alarming, stating that if the issue is not addressed soon, it will become a threat to the country’s infant democracy.
To this end, he revealed that the government has allocated an amount of GH¢76 million for initiatives geared towards youth development and empowerment, adding “And as a ministry, we are happy President Akufo-Addo has taken this move, which is unprecedented in the annals of the history of the ministry.”
The Youth and Sports Minister disclosed this when he visited some Youth Leadership and Skill Training Centres in the Ellembelle, Jomoro and Ahanta West Districts of the Western Region to discuss challenges facing the centres and develop possible road-maps to addressing them.
As part of his visit, the Minister paid a courtesy call on Awulae Amihere Kpainyili III, President of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, at his palace at Atuabo in the Ellembelle District.
The Minister remarked that “we need to provide sports infrastructure and also develop our youth centres, so that all manner of youth programmes could be formulated to help our future leaders”.
The Minister assured the chiefs and people that his outfit would ensure that the youth centres and other sports infrastructure in the district would receive the needed support from the ministry to give the youth the needed skills training.
He revealed that this year, his ministry would commence the construction of Multi-Purpose Youth centres nationwide, beginning from the Ellembelle District.
He noted that the centres would have modern football pitches and multi-purpose tennis courts for about 10 disciplines.
“We will also construct two dormitories and workshops for the youth training centres offering skills acquisition and jobs for the youth in the Western Region,” he added.
Chief
Awulae Amihere Kpainyili called on the youth, particularly the students to advantage of the government’s free SHS education policy to learn in order to become responsible leaders in future.
He appealed to the minister to help develop sporting activities in the Nzema area by constructing a modern sports stadium for the people of Nzema, adding “Now we have two football clubs–Nzema Kotoko FC and Karela FC which have qualified to play in the country’s premier league next football season.”
DCE
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzoh, appealed to the people to continue to live in peace to help ensure the accelerated development under the current government.
Abura
At the Leadership and Skills Training Centre at Abura in Ahanta West, Mr Asiamah reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that the youth constitute the major source of human capital for the country’s transformational agenda.
He mentioned that his ministry was poised to unearth the hidden potentials of the youth and stressed that it was important to focus on building policies and the right institutions to make this happen.
He promised that his ministry would build a workshop and boys’ dormitory for the institution.
Esi Nunoo, Principal of the Centre, was optimistic the requisite support from the Ministry to the institution could significantly help train the human capital needed for the socio-economic development of the nation.
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