Accra, June 23, GNA - The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) will from June 24 organize a headcount for all beneficiaries to take inventories of those at post and wipe out the ghost names on its payroll.

This initiative was to save the programme millions of Ghana cedis paid to ghost names on payroll and also support its expansion to employ the teeming unemployed youth.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mr. Abuga Pele, Acting National Coordinator of the Programme, said as part of projects to strengthen the Programme, the Ministry of Youth and Sport had initiated processes to ensure that the NYEP was covered by an Act of Parliament. "We are also preparing a Cabinet Memo for an Executive Instrument to ensure that NYEP funds are deducted at the funding sources into the NYEP Fund and also developing a programme to encourage private organizations and developing partners to channel resources into it", he added.

He said the Programme had also contracted the Management Service Division of the Civil Service to restructure existing NYEP Management Arrangement and also establish a Human Resource Management System to address all human resource functions.

Mr. Pele said the Programme had aimed at recruiting an additional 100,000 youth between July 2009 and January 2010 and also implement an appropriate and comprehensive exit plan for the career progression and professionalism of beneficiaries.

"We are also reviewing the current strategies to transform the Programme into a permanent, better funded employment agency", he said. The Acting Coordinator denied rumours that government was planning to terminate the employment contract of NYEP staff including District Coordinators and beneficiaries.

He cited the employment of 108,000 youth, revival of over 2,000 rural and deprived schools and the improvement upon health delivery and sanitation in the country as some of the successes that the programme had chalked since its inception in 2006.

Mr. Pele mentioned irregular release of funds from funding sources, inadequate office accommodation, vehicles for project staff, lack of resources to monitor the Programme's activities at all levels and lack of exit plans for beneficiaries as some of the challenges of the Programme.