Political vigilantism: US government to create jobs for Ghanaian youth

General News of Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Source: citifmonline.com

2018-01-31

Us Ambassador NewRobert P. Jackson, U.S. Ambassador

The United States government has identified youth unemployment as the root cause of political vigilantism which is gaining notoriety across Ghana.

According to the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson, the US is ready to support Ghana to create enough jobs to curtail the menace.

He spoke to Citi News after interacting with the Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed in Tamale on Tuesday, January 30, 2017.

The US Ambassador to Ghana thereby tasked the Regional Coordinating Council to identify and provide a list of youth groups that will be empowered to be self-reliant.

He said the US government will invest more in the agro-processing industry that will engage the majority of the unemployed youth.

Ambassador Robert P. Jackson added that, the US government will advance its Young African Leaders initiative to turn African youth into business and entrepreneurial moguls.

“For years and of course as part of our Young African Leaders initiative, we are training young entrepreneurs and we give them small grants to start or to grow businesses, but the focus of what the regional minister and I are talking about tonight, is looking at youth employment in the context of agro industry.”

“We talked specifically about Shea industry, the cashew industry and mangos, and there are a lot of crops that flourish in this region. And I believe there is great potential. We need to explore this more, and we need to bring in other companies so we will continue to work and attract private investment with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.”

Ambassador Robert P. Jackson explained that, he visited the Northern and Upper East Regions to interact with chiefs, duty bearers, inspect USAID funded projects, and inaugurate some completed CHPS compounds.

He said four of the completed CHPS compounds were located in the Mion and Yendi districts in the Northern Region, where primary health care is a major priority.

He emphasized that, maternal and child health care remained the US government’s major priority, hence the construction of modern health facilities in deprived communities.

“The US government will support the key sectors of education, health, agriculture and security to tackle the poverty situation in Northern Ghana,” he underscored.

He further pledged his administration’s commitment to form synergy with the Northern Regional Peace Council (NRPC) to deepen peaceful coexistence in the identified hotspots.

The Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, thanked the US government for alleviating the plight of the rural poor through its social intervention programmes under the auspices of the USAID and its allies.

He lobbied for more CHPS compounds for under-served communities where traditional healers served as caregivers.

Salifu Saeed appealed to the US government to support the Shea industry, saying, “We need technological support and multinationals to develop the shea nut industry which is the economic mainstay of most rural dwellers.

He further asked the US government to help government construct cargo warehouses at the Tamale International Airport.

He reiterated the need for peaceful coexistence to attract investors to the region.

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