<<Print>>

EVEN BEFORE the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) Programme, launched by President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, takes off functionaries of the ruling party have already started their propaganda machinery, raising doubts about the non-political nature of the programme. There are already fears about whether people who are not affiliated to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) would have access to the fund, which is expected to provide job opportunities for youth of this country. The actual amount committed into the programme generated some debate on a Kumasi-based radio station, OTEC FM, on Tuesday afternoon, when the National Youth Organizer of the ruling party, Mr. Ludwig Hlodze, told listeners of the station that the amount involved in the YES programme was $10 million instead of the GH�10 million figure being bandied around. It was not exactly clear whether the NDC Youth Organizer was displaying intellectual dishonesty or was genuinely not quite sure of the figure, but when his attention was drawn by host of the political show, DWABIREM, Kwabena Prah Jnr, that the amount was in cedis and not in dollars, Mr. Hlodze disagreed with him, insisting that the amount was actually in dollars. It has, however, emerged that the amount is indeed in the local currency and not in dollars, thus exposing the NDC youth leader�s attempt to blow the figure out of proportion. The NDC Youth Organizer, who was sharing his thoughts on the World Youth Day, which fell on Tuesday, described the program as a reflection of the government�s commitment to the development of the youth, stressing that the establishment of the YES with the $10 million seed money would help empower a number of youth in the country and help tackle the menace of youth unemployment. Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Communication Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Akwasi Kyei, has cast doubts over the feasibility of the new programme, saying it is another avenue by the government to siphon money to the functionaries of the NDC. Basing his assertion on the collapse by other similar programmes; such as GYEEDA, SADA, YESDEP, amongst others in the past, Akwasi Kyei said he was not expecting anything good to come out of the new initiative. According to him, it would be a climax of the �Create, Loot and Share�, which he said, had become associated with the NDC government since it came to power. �I can say for a fact that this YES programme is the Create, Loot and Share last stop, nothing good will come out of it and in the end the money will end up in the hands of NDC cohorts,� Mr. Kyei told The Chronicle in an interview. The NPP Ashanti Regional Director of Communications said though he was not against the programme in principle, he doubted if the actual purpose for its establishment will be realized considering the poor record of this government in terms of implementation of social intervention programmes. �The debacle of GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA, you name them, are all still fresh in our minds, I am not a pessimist but in matters like these, you need to consider the credibility of the government of the day and conclude if they actually mean what they say,� he emphasized. Mr. Kyei contended that it was absurd for a government, who is committed to youth development to dole out over GH�180 million to an individual under the guise of creating job opportunities for the youth and after seeing the money go down the drain, turn round and allocate a meagre GH�10 million for a similar purpose.