YEA registers 148,000 youth in Brong-Ahafo

A total of 148,000 youth have been registered under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) in Brong-Ahafo, says Mr Michael Osei Boateng, the Regional Coordinator of the Agency.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, Mr Boateng said the registration was done online adding that successful applicants would be interviewed and engaged as and when the need arises.

Reacting to alleged bribery and corruption associated with the registration process in parts of the Brong-Ahafo Region, the Regional Coordinator said applicants were made to register online and was surprised to hear the bribery incidents.

Mr Boateng said his outfit has received complaints about unscrupulous activities of syndicates who take advantage and extort monies from unsuspecting applicants to register them online.

He condemned the practice and appealed to the general public to help identify the perpetrators for the necessary action to be taken.

The GNA investigations reveal that the alleged bribery incidents were common in Wenchi, Berekum and Kintampo Municipalities as well as Tano North and Atebubu/Amantin Districts of the region where applicants were asked to pay GHC100 for registration.

Mr Boateng said the registration process was always done free of charge adding that his outfit has the responsibility to do the short-listing and interview of successful applicants adding that applicants who paid monies to the so-called agents did so at their own risk.

He said the YEA is aware that some unscrupulous individuals and groups are working hard to spoil the image of the Agency and make the government unpopular, saying his outfit would also investigate the alleged bribery incidents and sanction culprits.

The YEA formerly known as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) was established under the Youth Employment Act 2015 (Act 887) to empower young people to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic and sustainable development of the nation.

Its objective is to support the youth between the ages of 15 to 35 years through skills training and internship modules to transit from a situation of unemployment to that of employment.

To ensure sustainability, the policy focus of YEA was changed in 2009 from the traditional modules which have pay roll implications to the self employment modules such as Trades and Vocation modules through public private partnership so as to reduce the burden on payment of stipend for the Paid Internship Module.

Available statistics at the Agency’s official website indicates that as at December, 2012, more than 600,000 beneficiaries were recruited by the YEA.

New modules were introduced and some of the existing modules such as The Youth in Security Services and Trades and Vocation were reviewed and expanded to meet the growing demand for youth employment in the country.