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‘Angry’ NABCo trainees demonstrate today over nonpayment of their allowances

NABCo Trainees

A number of Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) will today, Thursday, February 17 hit the streets of Accra in a demonstration over the government’s delay in the payment of their allowances.

Recalled, some trainees took to social media to demand payment of their allowance arrears, saying life has become unbearable for them.

Some also blamed the government for abandoning them, adding that they have been “perishing in extreme hunger and deprivation.”

“I depend on my parents for survival; so, as a NABCo trainee, life has been very unbearable, and as you know, we have been in the corporate environment for a while.”

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 the 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) prioritized areas, defined as the following modules: Educate Ghana; Heal Ghana; Feed Ghana; Revenue Ghana; Digitise Ghana; Enterprise Ghana; and Civic Ghana.”

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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 insight,” he said.

NABCO’s central focus, the President said, was to 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.”