The Member of Parliament for Hohoe Constituency from the National Democratic Congress, Thomas Worlanyo Tsekpo, has blamed the previous New Patriotic Party administration for the downfall of the Nation Builders Corps initiative, asserting that it was initially developed by the NDC.
During a discussion on President John Dramani Mahama’s State of the Nation Address on Friday, March 7, 2025, Tsekpo challenged the job creation claims of the NPP, accusing them of lacking innovative concepts and dedication.
He mentioned an NDC initiative called Paid Internship that existed before 2016 under the Youth Employment Agency, which was meant to support National Service participants. Tsekpo alleged that the NPP adopted this program after assuming power in 2017, resulting in the dismissal of 10,000 young individuals who were prepared for the initiative.
“A communication was sent from the Vice President’s Office to YEA instructing the withdrawal of all those employed youths… the current general secretary of the New Patriotic Party served as CEO of YEA. You can check with him; they ended the employment of over 10,000 youths and replaced it with the NABCO program,” he mentioned.
He also claimed that since the NPP was not the creators of NABCO, they ultimately caused its failure, leading to numerous young people remaining unpaid after working for months.
NABCO was introduced in 2018 by President Akufo-Addo to combat youth unemployment, with the intention of involving 100,000 young Ghanaians in different fields. However, it received criticism due to payment issues and questions about its long-term viability, which resulted in its termination in 2022.
