Group on hunger strike against gov’t

A group calling itself Graduate Initiative Africa (GIA) has begun hunger strike in protest against government’s failure to pay members – who are mostly unemployed graduates – compensation to cushion them in the face of economic adversities.

According to GIA, a fund it set up to help members who set up their own businesses, Graduate Fund has yielded little dividends.

Members of the group have, therefore, set up tents in front of the Ministry of Education’s head office, where they claim they will stay until their demands are met.

“If I die it means the government has killed me and I am telling them that my blood will be on their heads,” said Malcolm Selase Asamoah, the Founder of GIA, on TV3’s News 360 on Tuesday, May 20.

He said their initial demands have been for the National Service Secretariat to grant them access to talk to fresh graduates in order to introduce them to the Graduate Fund, get deduction from source of personnel who want to join GIA and get compensation.

“Those concerns were addressed leaving one,” noted Mr Asamoah. “That one is the payment of compensation to the organisation.”

He accused the police of bullying them in their attempt to get protection but claims they are unperturbed and will continue to go on empty stomach and sleep in the open until "we are heard".