A labour expert, Austin Gamey, has declared his full support for President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to suspend contract extensions for pensioners.

He argued that the directive will pave the way for young people to take up responsibilities from older generations in the public sector.

He added that the new policy presents a perfect opportunity to train and engage young people to curb the alarming unemployment rate in the country.

“I support this policy wholeheartedly because we need to develop and train young people to take up responsibilities from the older generation,” he said on TV3 on April 12, 2025.

Austin Gamey underscored that the system where retirees were given contract extensions has been abused.

“We don’t want to be putting people [retirees] on contracts for 2 years; it is an abuse and depriving young people,” he said.

He urged organised labour to focus on training and retaining young workers by experienced workers on the verge of retirement; stressing that millions of young people are in need of jobs to contribute to the growth of the country.

His comment is in response to organised labour’s demand for an extensive consultation, prior to the rollout of the directive that suspends the granting of contract extension to retired public servants.

VPO/AE

Meanwhile, catch up on the concluding part of the story of Fort William, where children were sold in exchange for kitchenware, others, below: