North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that the cost of hiring presidential jet for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s trips outside the country, is enough to pay 7000 trainees under the Nation Builders Corps (NACO) programme.
He stated that the hired presidential jet is costing Ghana ¢4.5million.
This, means that at a stipend of ¢700, President Akufo-Addo could have paid as many as 7000 NABCO trainees, he said.
“with the latest lavish presidential cruise costing the Ghanaian taxpayer some GHS4.9million; what this actually means is that at a stipend of GHS700 a month, President Akufo-Addo could have paid as many as 7000 NABCO trainees & perhaps avert the NABCO demonstrations,” Mr Ablakwa who has been criticizing President Akufo-Addo for abandoning the Presidential jet to hire another one for his trips, tweeted on Tuesday February 22.
Personnel of the NABCO initiative demonstrated on the streets of Accra today, Thursday February 17, following the failure of the government to pay them.
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They are owed four months salary arrears but according to them, the government has failed to to pay them, hence the protest.
NABCO was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1st May, 2018.
Mr Akufo-Addo while launching the programme was confident that by the time NABCO trainees exited scheme “the requisite work readiness skills and experience, often deemed a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”
According to President Akufo-Addo, “NABCO will be the vehicle to deliver one hundred thousand (100,000) jobs in seven (7) prioritised areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.”
Explaining the rationale for the establishment of the Corps, President Akufo-Addo noted that the grim story of youth unemployment had been a tragic part of the lives of Ghanaians for far too long in Ghana.
The situation he said was worsened by the ban placed on public sector employment by the International Monetary Fund at the time.
“I gave an indication that a new employment scheme will be launched to tackle the issue of the growing numbers of graduates exiting our tertiary institutions with no job placements in sight,” he said.
NABCO’s central focus, the President said, was create employment avenues and opportunities for young people who hold diplomas or degrees from accredited tertiary institutions, adding that “NABCO will enhance the dignity and self-esteem of our graduates, and will also present them with the added benefit of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of some essential public services.”
