New-Tafo (E/R), June 7, GNA - The second Youth Mock Assembly jointly organised by the Africa Youth Alliance (AYA) and the National Youth Council (NYC) was held at Akyem New-Tafo on Tuesday. Mr Emmanuel Victor Asihene, East Akyem District Chief Executive urged stakeholders to come together to arrest the moral decadence among the youth.

The DCE pointed out that youth issues were not the concern of only the youth themselves, parents or the government alone but the collective responsibility of all.

He called on religious leaders to win more souls not only for Christ but to preach to reform the youth and assist them to overcome problems they face in their adolescent period. Mr Asihene said the Assembly would soon form a committee for youth development in its bid to find solutions to some of the problems affecting them.

The Mock District Assembly was aimed at giving the youth the opportunity to discuss issues confronting them in a district assembly setting, in order to expose such difficulties to the elders to make them find ways of addressing them.

During their deliberations, the contributors blamed drug abuse among the youth to the child abuse some children suffered from their parents, which made them stay away from home.

The "assembly members" appealed to adults to accept the youth as partners in development and provide them with the guidance that would enable them to take up the mantle of leadership in the future. The Presiding Member, Mr Seth Aseidu Asante, urged the youth not only to organize excursions to places of interest, but also visit places like psychiatric hospitals to learn about the consequences of drug abuse.

The District Youth Co-ordinator of the NYC, Mr George Amuzu, said the youth needed to be allowed to express their concerns in the presence of elders rather than to their colleagues, who might not be able to offer them the appropriate guidance. 7 June 05