Mr Clement B. Benin, Lambussie/Karni District Chief Executive (DCE) has noted that, government is committed to harness the potential of the youth for national development.

He said government was aware that the youth was confronted with various challenges in education, unemployment, inadequate social support systems and drug menace, which were incapacitating their dreams and aspirations.

The DCE was addressing members of the Danwan Youth Development Association at its fourth anniversary celebration at Suke in the Lambussie/Karni District on Saturday.

He said these factors motivated the government to launch the National Youth Policy to collaborate with the youth and other stakeholders to implement appropriate interventions, policies and programmes for youth development.

Mr. Benin noted that for the past three years, government had made tremendous interventions through the district assemblies to deal with the development challenges of the youth.

He mentioned the expansion of the National Youth Employment Programme to cover many modules and that of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, and the distribution of laptop computers to school children as some of the pro-poor interventions government was providing the youth to meet their development needs and aspirations.

Government was also spending huge sums of money under the Local Enterprise and Skills Development Programme as a measure to help reduce poverty and appealed to the youth to patronise the programme.

He however said government’s interventions would be misplaced if issues of drug abuse, excessive alcohol intake, pre-marital sex, early marriage and truancy were still prevailing among the youth.

He warned them against vices that could destroy their future but rather exploit the numerous development opportunities that government had created to improve their livelihoods.

Mr Nuoto Amatus, Chairman of the Association, called on the youth and other vulnerable groups to be wary of politicians who want to misuse them for their selfish interest, to perpetuate violence during the December elections.

He said the development of the spirit of tolerance and pluralism of political ideologies was paramount to ensuring peaceful election.

He pointed out that, politics was about varied views and opinions, and the youth must not allow those differences to create any divisive tendency among them to cause confusion during the election.

“As we do our campaigns, let us remember that our various parties may one day cease to exist but our membership in the various families will continue to exist from one generation to another,” Mr Amatus noted.**