NYEP CO-ORDINATORS UNDERGO TRAINING
NYEP CO-ORDINATORS UNDERGO TRAINING October 19, 2009
BY PETER ATOGEWE WEDAM
ISD – BOLGATANGA MUNICIPAL
All nine newly employed district co-ordinators of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in the Upper East Region and the regional co-ordinator, Mr. Kapanamo James Kojo have received a day’s orientation training at Bolgatanga.
The orientation was to give new NYEP district heads the needed knowledge and guidelines to be able to execute their mandate efficiently and in conformity with the principles of the NYEP.
Hon. Mark Owen Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Honourable Mark Owen Woyongo in a word to the co-ordinators observed that the NYEP was established a few years ago to tackle the unemployment situation in the country. He said as the programme worked, the National Democratic Congress then in opposition, observed from afar and noted certain vital concerns.
Honourable Woyongo said having been given the mandate to govern, the Mill's government has begun reviewing the whole NYEP because the need has come for such an exercise in order to improve on it to open up more employment opportunities to the youth.
He noted that unemployment is the underlying cause of conflicts in the region while it also contributes to the high poverty levels amongst the regions' people and cause even many more people to drift to the south in search of non-existent jobs.
The regional minister told the co-ordinators that the Regional Co-ordinating Council will be monitoring their conduct and performance so as to ensure dedication and commitment to work which should result in desired goals that the NYEP seeks to achieve.
He said in the recent past the issue of ghost names plagued the NYEP throwing it into indebtedness to banks and also to some of its beneficiaries and urged the co-ordinators to avoid indulging in acts that cause the NYEP to pay people who actually do no work.
He warned that there will be periodic auditing of their operations and advised them to live above reproach.
Honourable Woyongo said the people in the region should hail the NYEP because it will help the region to fight poverty, disease and create jobs for the masses hence improving the standard of living.
The Acting National Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Mr. Abuga Pele disclosed in a speech that his office spends about four million Ghana Cedis each month by way of payment of allowances to NYEP employees.
Mr. Pele thus tasked the NYEP Co-ordinators to re-register all beneficiaries of the programme in their various districts adding that government can save more money if all ghost names are deleted from the payroll of the NYEP.
The acting national co-ordinator disclosed that the NYEP owes the Agricultural Development Bank as much as18 million Ghana Cedis as a result of ghost names. He therefore gave the co-ordinators up to the end of November, 2009 to clear all such ghost names.
He revealed that, a deal has been sealed with the Labianca Tomato Factory in Tema which is ready to buy locally produced tomatoes from 100,000 farmers nationwide to process. Also, the Northern Star Tomato factory at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region will continue to buy the local tomato and this will ensure massive employment of youth under the agribusiness module.
Mr. Pele said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will finance and disseminate information in respect of the agribusiness module. Under this module, he said there are three groupings including commercial agriculture, domestic agriculture and industrial agriculture.
According to Mr. Abuga Pele, the reviewed NYEP will engage beneficiaries for exactly two years. However, there will be a three month grace period after which the contract will be terminated to make way for new entrants to also benefit from the programme.
He stated that the previous administration took hasty decisions to implement the NYEP without thorough thinking. Thus the current government has taken pains to implement the idle modules and also introduced the oil and mining module in respect of Ghana's oil find.
A deputy co-ordinator of communication and research, Chief Maasu and Honourable Roger Abolimbisa, member of the NYEP monitoring team are among technical team that carried out the orientation course.
BY PETER ATOGEWE WEDAM
ISD – BOLGATANGA MUNICIPAL
All nine newly employed district co-ordinators of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in the Upper East Region and the regional co-ordinator, Mr. Kapanamo James Kojo have received a day’s orientation training at Bolgatanga.
The orientation was to give new NYEP district heads the needed knowledge and guidelines to be able to execute their mandate efficiently and in conformity with the principles of the NYEP.
Hon. Mark Owen Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Honourable Mark Owen Woyongo in a word to the co-ordinators observed that the NYEP was established a few years ago to tackle the unemployment situation in the country. He said as the programme worked, the National Democratic Congress then in opposition, observed from afar and noted certain vital concerns.
Honourable Woyongo said having been given the mandate to govern, the Mill's government has begun reviewing the whole NYEP because the need has come for such an exercise in order to improve on it to open up more employment opportunities to the youth.
He noted that unemployment is the underlying cause of conflicts in the region while it also contributes to the high poverty levels amongst the regions' people and cause even many more people to drift to the south in search of non-existent jobs.
The regional minister told the co-ordinators that the Regional Co-ordinating Council will be monitoring their conduct and performance so as to ensure dedication and commitment to work which should result in desired goals that the NYEP seeks to achieve.
He said in the recent past the issue of ghost names plagued the NYEP throwing it into indebtedness to banks and also to some of its beneficiaries and urged the co-ordinators to avoid indulging in acts that cause the NYEP to pay people who actually do no work.
He warned that there will be periodic auditing of their operations and advised them to live above reproach.
Honourable Woyongo said the people in the region should hail the NYEP because it will help the region to fight poverty, disease and create jobs for the masses hence improving the standard of living.
The Acting National Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Mr. Abuga Pele disclosed in a speech that his office spends about four million Ghana Cedis each month by way of payment of allowances to NYEP employees.
Mr. Pele thus tasked the NYEP Co-ordinators to re-register all beneficiaries of the programme in their various districts adding that government can save more money if all ghost names are deleted from the payroll of the NYEP.
The acting national co-ordinator disclosed that the NYEP owes the Agricultural Development Bank as much as18 million Ghana Cedis as a result of ghost names. He therefore gave the co-ordinators up to the end of November, 2009 to clear all such ghost names.
He revealed that, a deal has been sealed with the Labianca Tomato Factory in Tema which is ready to buy locally produced tomatoes from 100,000 farmers nationwide to process. Also, the Northern Star Tomato factory at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region will continue to buy the local tomato and this will ensure massive employment of youth under the agribusiness module.
Mr. Pele said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will finance and disseminate information in respect of the agribusiness module. Under this module, he said there are three groupings including commercial agriculture, domestic agriculture and industrial agriculture.
According to Mr. Abuga Pele, the reviewed NYEP will engage beneficiaries for exactly two years. However, there will be a three month grace period after which the contract will be terminated to make way for new entrants to also benefit from the programme.
He stated that the previous administration took hasty decisions to implement the NYEP without thorough thinking. Thus the current government has taken pains to implement the idle modules and also introduced the oil and mining module in respect of Ghana's oil find.
A deputy co-ordinator of communication and research, Chief Maasu and Honourable Roger Abolimbisa, member of the NYEP monitoring team are among technical team that carried out the orientation course.
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