{"id":273444,"date":"2011-01-11T12:08:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T12:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/?p=46192"},"modified":"2011-01-11T12:08:21","modified_gmt":"2011-01-11T12:08:21","slug":"prof-yankah-descends-on-footsoldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/11\/prof-yankah-descends-on-footsoldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Prof Yankah Descends On Footsoldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_46193\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-46193\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-46193\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/01\/11\/prof-yankah-descends-on-footsoldiers\/prof_kwesi_yankah\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46193\" title=\"prof_kwesi_yankah\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/prof_kwesi_yankah.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"259\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-46193\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Kwesi Yankah<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nThe Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwesi  Yankah, has taken a swipe at foot-soldiers of political parties who  indulge in violent conducts including the seizure of public toilets,  advising them to rather channel their energies into productive ventures.<br \/>\n\u201cIf the raw energy and power of the youth should be unleashed, let  these be let loose in the destruction not of property, but of poverty in  Africa. Let the youthful exuberance be galvanized not to seize toilets,  but to seize the canker of illiteracy in society. Let them seize it by  the horn and kill it. And for once they will not be charged for murder.\u201d<br \/>\nProf. Yankah made the statement when he spoke at the formal opening  of the 62nd annual New Year School and Conference at the Great Hall of  the University of Ghana, Legon-Accra yesterday.<br \/>\nThis year\u2019s weeklong event is themed \u2018Harnessing The Power Of The Youth For Accelerated Development.\u2019<br \/>\nThe actions of party foot-soldiers, particularly those belonging to  the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), continue to pose a major  threat to the country\u2019s multi party democracy.<br \/>\nOn several occasions, these foot-soldiers have embarked on violent  confiscation of perceived national assets, locking out of public  officials, issuing ultimatum to policy-makers and chasing Ministers of  Sate from offices, without any attempt by the authorities to bring them  to book.<br \/>\nAccording to Professor Yankah, developing appropriate legislations  and policy framework that would harness the potential of the youth for  national development should be vigorously pursued to bring hope to them  and inspire them, rather than giving them a sense of hopelessness that  drove them into all sorts of crime and lawlessness.<br \/>\n\u201cLet the youth forcibly bring down the walls of ignorance and  superstition that perilously hangs on us; and with clubs and sticks, let  the youth chase away not public officials, but the scourge of disease  and infant mortality that set us several years behind this millennium,\u201d  he said.<br \/>\nHe noted that the youth had been effective catalysts for social  change when well mentored, saying, \u201cThey should be considered a crucial  human resource base, awaiting opportunities for capacity building for  national development.\u201d<br \/>\nHe also advised youthful public officials to be mindful of their  utterances: \u201cI also regrettably refer to misguided utterances, and  verbal indiscretions committed by youthful publics of late.\u201d<br \/>\nProfessor Justice S.K. Date-Bah, a Supreme Court judge and Chairman  of the University Council, said the implications of the usefulness of  the youth needed to be assessed and analyzed properly, adding, \u201cYouth  are a powerful and vibrant resource for national development.\u201d<br \/>\nHe said all countries were designing policies that would enable the  youth to play important roles in the development programmes and said  Ghana could not be left out in that effort.<br \/>\nAkua Sena Dansua, out-going Minister of Youth and Sports, reiterated  the government\u2019s commitment to harness the potential of the youth for  national development.<br \/>\nShe said the ministry was collaborating with all the stakeholders to  resolve the challenges confronting the National Youth Employment  Programme (NYEP) so that it could become sustainable.<br \/>\nIn his keynote address on the theme, Benjamin T. Dabrah, Managing  Director of Barclays Bank Limited, said his research into the roles of  the youth in political and economic development showed that the  contribution of the youth was limited.<br \/>\n\u201cI found a few celebrated youth in our political and economic  development and this is because we have overlooked their contributions.  We should find a way of recognizing the contribution of the youth to  serve as motivation for others.\u201d<br \/>\nProfessor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, Director of Institute of Continuing and  Distance Education (ICDE), said concerns of the youth continued to pose a  headache for policymakers and it was time to design effective measures  to address problems currently facing the youth.<br \/>\nHe bemoaned the falling standards in education despite the increase  of educational infrastructure and access to education but was hopeful  that with the effective harmonization and implementation of policies,  the youth would have hope for the future.<br \/>\n<strong><em>By William Yaw Owusu<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwesi Yankah, has taken a swipe at foot-soldiers of political parties who indulge in violent conducts including the seizure of public toilets, advising them to rather channel their energies into productive ventures. \u201cIf the raw energy and power of the youth should be unleashed, let these be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-273444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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