The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Hohoe Constituency, Thomas Worlanyo Tsekpo, has accused the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of collapsing the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) program, claiming it originated from an NDC initiative.

Speaking during a debate on President John Dramani Mahama’s State of the Nation Address on Friday, March 7, 2025, Worlanyo Tsekpo questioned the NPP’s job creation credentials, alleging a lack of original ideas and commitment.

He referenced a pre-2016 NDC program under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) called Paid Internship, designed as a buffer for National Service personnel, which he claimed the NPP adopted when it took office in 2017, with 10,000 youth who were prepared for the program laid off.

“A letter came from the Office of the Vice President to YEA for all those youth who were employed to be withdrawn… the current general secretary of the New Patriotic Party was the CEO of YEA. You can find out from him, they terminated the appointments of over 10,000 youth who were employed and what they did was to create NABCO,” he stated.

He further asserted that due to not being the originators, the NPP eventually collapsed NABCO, leaving many youths unpaid after months of work.

NABCO, launched in 2018 by President Akufo-Addo to address youth unemployment, aimed to engage 100,000 young Ghanaians in various sectors, but faced criticisms over payment delays and sustainability, leading to its eventual discontinuation in 2022.

SA/AE

Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah's bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: