Community Protection graduates pass out

Pwalugu, (U/E), June 26, GNA - The Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment, Dr. Charles Brempong-Yeboah, on Monday dismissed as untrue the assertion by some politicians that the Community Protection Unit of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) was created by government with the intention of rigging the 2008 election.

The Deputy Minister made the statement in a speech read for him by Mr. Ambrose Dery, Upper West Regional Minister, at a passing out ceremony for seventy-one Community protection Police at the Police Training School at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region.

They underwent courses in traffic directing, community information gathering, assisting in arrest, crowd control, first aid, information dissemination, community education and by-laws.

"The utterance of these people are, therefore, for all intents and purposes, mischievous and should be dismissed outright", he said, stressing that the NYEP was meant to create jobs for the teaming unemployed youth in the country.

He appealed to the youth to make maximum use of the programme and called on all stakeholders to contribute to the development of the programme.

Dr. Brempong-Yeboah exhorted the graduands to be disciplined in the execution of their duties and said anybody who wants to take advantage of the programme to misconduct himself or herself would be sanctioned. In his welcoming address, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Awudu Yiremeah said the NYEP was in fulfillment of government's promise as captured in the 2006 budget, which emphasized on investing in people, and creation of jobs.

"The policy continues to serve as a framework for employing a lot of the youth who hitherto would have migrated to the urban centres to look for non-existent jobs," he indicated.

Alhaji Yiremeah repeated the call on people who are using the programme to score cheap political points to desist from the practice since it would not help them.

The first best recruit in conduct went to Umar Bawa from the Upper West Region. Helen Tingbani won the best in physical training. The best in drilling went to Bawa Yahaya also from Upper West Region. The overall best trainee went to Stephen Larry Japiong from the Northern Region.