The deputy minister of youth and sports Hon Vincent Oppong Asamoah, is emphatically stated that there is a lot for Ghanaians to learn from the Upper West region. He said this when he appeared before the novel youth parliament of the region at Wa senior technical high assembly hall, to answer questions related to youth activities and sports as well. This parliament is under the auspices of the regional Youth Authority of the Upper West region.
According to the Dormah West Member of Parliament, he was amazed the way the parliament is constituted and their level of discourse. He pledged to be an advocate for the replication of the concept of youth parliament across the length and breadth of the country.
The youth parliament unequivocally demanded answers from the deputy minister why issues of the youth were relegated to the back burner whilst football issues have become the preoccupation of the ministry. According to the majority leader of the parliament Mr. Aiden Sumara, the youth of Ghana have been taken for granted for far too long hence; there is the need for ample funding for youth activities. He went further to indicate that, the budgetary allocation to sports is always far greater than that of youth activities.
On his part, Hon. Vincent Asamoah disagreed and referred to such comments as only perceptions but not the reality on the ground. The MP said ‘I share the sentiment that we are concentrating on black stars’. He said government is taking steps to invest in lesser funded sports which we Ghanaians have a comparative advantage in.
One major concern raised by the parliamentarians, was the centralization of the Youth Entrepreneurial and skills development fund (YES). They opined that the fund would have been more accessible and easier to monitor if it’s put under the control of the national youth authority.
On his part, Mr. Mumuni Sulemena who is the regional director of NYA stated emphatically that youth activities must be taken very seriously. He called on the ministry to provide funds in order to have these parliaments decentralized to the district level. ‘Preparations are already advance to have these youth parliaments at Sissala East and Jirapa districts’ he added.
Joseph Oswald Ali
Freelance Journalist