NABCO trainees ask Nana Akuffo-Addo: Where are the permanent jobs you promised us?

 

 NABCO Trainees Feel Betrayed by Akuffo-Addo-Bawumia Government

In 2018, the Ghanaian government launched the Nation Building Corps (NABCO) program, a flagship initiative aimed at providing temporary employment and skills training to unemployed graduates. The program was a key campaign promise of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), and many trainees saw it as a beacon of hope for their future. However, three years later, the story has taken a different turn. The government's failure to absorb NABCO trainees into permanent public sector jobs has left them feeling exploited, abandoned, and betrayed.

A Promise Unfulfilled

Frimpong Manso, the Public Relations Officer of the Aggrieved Nation Building Corps (NABCO) personnel, has expressed his disappointment and frustration with the Akuffo-Addo-Bawumia government. He accused the government of using the NABCO program for political gain during the 2020 elections, only to abandon them afterward. "The promise by the government to absorb us made us vote for the NPP during the 2020 elections," he said. "We thought it was an initiative to alleviate us, but now we are getting the picture that it was a mounded vehicle to drive us into poverty."

Abandoned and Forgotten

Manso argued that despite their efforts to support the government's re-election, they have been forgotten. "We've not been remembered at all," he lamented. "Our vice president, who is the flag-bearer of the NPP, has toured almost all the regions in Ghana, but there is no single occasion whereby he has mentioned NABCO as an achievement." The government's silence on the matter is deafening, and the trainees feel ignored and disrespected.

Delayed Payments and Lost Lives

The situation is even more dire, as the government currently owes over sixty-six thousand personnel some four hundred and eighteen million cedis. Manso revealed that some personnel have lost their lives due to the delayed payments, which have left them struggling to survive. "We borrowed to survive and even worked under harsh conditions, yet still no appreciation from the government," he said. "If I tell you the number of NABCO trainers that have died from malnutrition and even petty diseases and sickness that they could have survived if they had money, it's heartbreaking."

The NABCO trainees' story is a stark reminder of the consequences of broken promises and political exploitation. The Akuffo-Addo-Bawumia government must take responsibility for its actions and fulfill its pledge to absorb the trainees into permanent public sector jobs. The government's silence and inaction are a betrayal of the trust placed in them by the trainees, who voted for them in good faith. It's time for the government to make things right and provide a better future for the NABCO trainees.