The Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Elvis Afriyie –Ankrah today undertook a day’s working visit to the National Youth Authority head office in Accra. The Visit was to enable the Minister outline his vision for the NYA, inspect the centre and to find out the current state of affairs, i.e. operations, progress and challenges confronting the Authority.
Hon. Afriyie Ankrah commended the NYA for the success chalked despite their challenges, mentioning the Youth Caravan as an innovation which was hugely popular among the youth of the country. He called on staff to gird up their loins and work harder to achieve the better Ghana Agenda.
Hon. Afriyie-Ankrah stated that the President, H.E. John Dramani Mahama had a lot of interest in youth issues and that the NYA had a special role to play in the national scheme of youth development and transformation. The Hon Minister reiterated H.E.President Mahama’s vision for the Youth during his recent State of the Nation Address. Hon. Afriyie Ankrah spoke on the need to collaborate better with the private sector, the need to have a database of young persons with various skills, all aimed at inculcating in the youth nationalism and thus develop their own innate talents and capabilities.
He promised to have a good relationship with the Authority, labeling himself as a “listening Minister with my doors always open” to ensure that the youth and its related issues were well programmed / structured to ensure ‘a better youth in a better Ghana’. Receiving the Minister, the Chief Executive Officer of NYA, Mrs. Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, commended him for visiting them very early since his appointment.
She said they had a lot of proposals for the attention of the Minister, such as the Community Outreach and Youth Registration Project, training of Youth Coordinators and leaders in five communities per district, building a national volunteer corp; upgrading of the training Institutes, among others.
Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu lauded the President for highlighting youth related issues and outlining measures towards advancing the course of youth development in the country adding that the NYA would ensure that their mandate was fulfilled. Some management staff called on the Minister to use his good offices to address some challenges such as ensuring inter-agency meetings to enable each of them to be abreast with decisions, utilizing of NYA land at Fadama, need for new staff to man district offices, remuneration of staff to attract the youth, need to ensure quick disbursement of funds from the Ministry to undertake youth programmes.