Trainees formerly enrolled in the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) have voiced their determination to prevent any exploitation of the program for political purposes, particularly in the lead-up to the 2024 national elections.
Despite their persistent appeals, these trainees lament that the government has yet to fulfill its financial obligations, leaving them with unpaid nine-month arrears.
In an interview with Citi News, Eric Takyi, the National Spokesperson of the former NABCO Trainees Association, stated, “We’ve taken various actions, including staging demonstrations and submitting official petitions to the NABCO Secretariat and the Office of the Vice President. If the government continues to neglect us, we’ll ensure that our grievances are heard in the 2024 elections, preventing any political exploitation of the NABCO program.”
Expressing deep disappointment with the government’s failure to compensate them, Eric Takyi emphasized, “We’re incredibly let down. We dedicated nine months of hard work without receiving payment. Following the completion of our contractual year, the government extended our contracts for an additional year, instructing us to continue working until further notice. We faithfully followed these directives, only to be left unpaid when the additional year concluded. This occurred in 2022, and to this day, we remain unpaid for nine months of arrears. It’s a situation the government has chosen to ignore, leaving NABCO beneficiaries without their rightful compensation.”
The NABCO initiative was introduced by the Akufo-Addo-led administration in 2017 as a strategic response to combat graduate unemployment in the nation.
Implemented through seven distinct modules, namely Educate Ghana, Heal Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Digitize Ghana, Enterprise Ghana, and Civic Ghana, the program aimed to provide meaningful employment opportunities for graduates across various sectors of the economy.
