Hundreds of graduates who have been recruited for the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) program, Monday, besieged the Secretariat of the Builders Corps to demand an extension of the closing date for their registration process.

While some have issues with their National Service Scheme Personal Identification Number (NSS PIN), others too have issues regarding the status of their application which is rated “Pending”. Some also want an opportunity to correct some mistakes they made when filling out the application forms.

The deadline for the registration process was on Friday, August 31, 2018, with the recruits said to be undergoing training on September 10, 2018.

Some of the recruits who have their application still “Pending” told kasapafmonline.com that they’ve gone to the NABCO Secretariat on several occasions to seek for clarification on the status of their application and where possible, rectify any anomaly detected but their efforts have yielded no results.

“I have been selected but when I went to the internet on the 24th of last month to check, it said I have been selected for the engagement for the appointment of …but it is still pending. I have been to the office for barely a week now. Whenever I go there, they tell me that they are working on it. Most of us are even fed up with the stories they’ve been telling us. So, we want an extension of time so that they rectify all outstanding issue”, Joseph Ahenkorah told kasapafmonline.com in an exclusive interview, Monday, September 3, 2018.

Another affected graduate, Frederick Kwadwo Braini also said “I went for the interview. I sat there from 7am and was interviewed from 12 to 1pm and now when I came to the portal to check my status it was written no show. So, I don’t understand why they have written no show whilst I went to starve during the interview time. I have lodged a complaint more than hundred times. I have been here since last week – lorry fare in and out. I’m from Kumasi – lorry fare in and out to President Drive. Just imaging waking up at dawn and boarding VIP in and out of Kumasi and Accra. From last week Monday still I’ve not heard any good news. I want an extension of the closing date for them to rectify my status but they should also have an IT office that will be tackling such issues because if you don’t have and you tell me to go to www.nabco.gov.gh/support and I went there and still no support, it is not fair”.

Some of the affected graduates also complained of having challenges uploading the pdf file of their verified documents.

“My challenge is I have been verified, printed out the letter, scanned it and made it into the pdf as the instructions were given. Uploading it has become a problem since last week Monday. So, I came to the office on Wednesday and I met only one lady who said she is a staff there. So, I told her my problem and she said they’ve been having complaints about it and that it is something they are working on and so should look throughout the week and see how it goes. Then on Friday, I got a whatsapp message that it has been extended but on the same Friday by 5pm as the site said the operation has been closed. I checked even this morning before coming here and it is still the same thing. So, I came here to lodge a complaint and they are telling me a whole lot of stories which I can’t see a solution in it. They should work on the system and extend the deadline because the system is wrong. I believe it might be hacked because why you try uploading it, it redirects you to a different source”, noted Kojo Mensah.

Akosua Agyapong who also has issues with her NSS PIN told kasapafmonline.com that “The issue is when I was registering for the NABCO, I made a mistake in my NSS PIN. Since then I have been trying to reach their office so that I will be allowed to make corrections but I wasn’t able to reach them. The day I was able to reach them, they gave me a link but you will go there and there is no place for you to make corrections. Till now I have not been able to make the corrections. Last week I came all the way from Akuapim North, initially to their office and Labone. I got there and they redirected me to the Presidential Drive. I got here and they were not around. You try reaching them and there is no result. It is today that I have met them. They told us that when we were registering, we did so online and so they can’t do anything about it. But I believe they are human beings sitting behind the computers operating it. So, if I made a mistake and I have a genuine number, we want to see the IT people to effect the corrections. I want them to extend the deadline so that those who made mistakes in their application forms should be allowed to correct them”.

Several attempts to reach the National Coordinator of NABCO, Dr. Ibrahim Aryass, to react to the story has since proved futile.

The Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) program is a government initiative to address graduate unemployment to solve social problems. The focus of the initiative is to solve public service delivery in health, education, agriculture, technology, governance and drive revenue mobilization and collection.

It is meant to provide temporary employment, improve skills and public service delivery and well as revenue mobilization and also improve access to basic public services.