Youth unemployment in Ghana a ticking time bomb – Former Minister

A former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Akwasi Oppong-Fosu has appealed to the Akufo-Addo-led administration to expedite measures to tackle the growing youth unemployment in the country.

The local governance expert who was speaking on the Gumbe show on TV XYZ admitted that the joblessness among the youth in Ghana is very dangerous to the democracy of the country, stressing that something ought to be done about it.

Oppong-Fosu, a former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, observed that “youth unemployment is very dangerous to every country” and threatens the peace and security of the country since hungry lads could cause chaos when they have access to sophisticated weapons.

“We all know the youth are the strength of the country, so if they do not have jobs and are hungry, then the country will always be in conflict,” he lamented.

Guinea Situation

He was speaking on the current state of affairs of the country as well as the impact of the coup d’etat that has toppled the government of Alpha Conde in Guinea.

To him, the military takeover would not have happened if Conde had worked towards tackling the challenges confronting the youth of the country, adding “the youth were not happy about the happenings of the country especially when jobs were not available while they grappled with hardship that was getting tougher each day.”

He attributed the coup to the growing “misuse of power and the lack of accountability” in the subregion but was quick to add that the Guinea situation escalated when Conde made amendments to the constitution and ran for the presidency again while anger among the people kept growing every day.

“What brings about such chaos is about the abuse of power and the huge sums of monies lost through corruption. When the youth are suffering like that, they are forced to do anything to stop the misuse of power,” Oppong-Fosu added.

Touching on the joblessness situation in Guinea, Oppong-Fosu also noted that “unemployment is a big deal in Africa and that is why a chunk of the youth usually migrate through the deserts and onto the high seas with the hope of seeking greener pasture abroad but end up suffering.”