Gov’t Launches Nation Builders Corps

An ‘Economic Miracle’ is about hitting Ghana’s employment sector as government saddles up to employ 100,000 graduates to assist in public-sector service delivery needs of the country, through the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO).

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the life-saving initiative, yesterday, in Kumasi. He said the new employment scheme would tackle the issue of the growing numbers of graduate unemployment.

Explaining the motive behind the establishment of the Corps, President Akufo-Addo indicated that, “the grim story of youth unemployment has been a tragic part of the lives of Ghanaians for far too long” and had worsened, in recent times, by the ban placed on public sector employment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“I was alarmed late last year to learn that 250,000 young persons applied to be placed in the Youth Employment Agencies internship module when the available spaces were only 5000 people.

“The Ghana Revenue Authority also advertised for various categories of staff and some 59,961 responded to the advertisement out of which 20,177 met the requirement and the available vacancies were 350,” the president recalled.

According to him, it was imperative that his government did things differently, “if we are going to banish the spectre of desperation and restore hope and dignity to our youth.”

Akufo-Addo in his speech revealed that central focus would be to create employment avenues and opportunities for young people who hold diplomas or degrees from accredited tertiary institutions.

“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,” the president noted.

President Akufo-Addo was confident that by the time NABCO trainees exit the scheme, which is for a 3-year period, “the requisite work readiness skills and experience, often deemed a barrier to their employment as fresh graduates, would have been resolved.”

NABCO

This outstanding initiative according to the president, seeks to deliver 100,000 jobs in seven characterised areas defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.

Module qualification and recruitment process and all the essential criteria along with detailed information are all available on the NACOB’s website―(www.nabco.gov.gh).

The website would be the only medium through which applications would be received from graduates, as long as they are Ghanaian citizens, and have duly discharged their national service obligations, President Akuffo-Addo stressed.

The application process began yesterday and closes on June, 1 2018. It is expected that by August, 1 2018, selected persons would be deployed to commence work.

NACOB trainees according to the president would receive a monthly stipend of GH¢700.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]