Youth For Action (YFA), a pressure advocacy group, has issued a strong call to President John Dramani Mahama, urging him to move beyond what they described as “lip service” and take concrete steps toward fulfilling key promises made to the youth during the 2024 general election campaign.
At a press conference today at Accra International Press Centre, the group’s Convenor, Mr. Isaac Acheampong, expressed disappointment in what he described as a lack of urgency on the part of the government to implement the bold promises outlined in the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s 2024 manifesto.
He noted that while expectations were high among young people, the government’s first budget presentation failed to address many of the core issues the NDC campaigned on.
“Before the 2024 elections, the NDC made several commitments to young people, promising us a new direction, a new vision, and above all, economic empowerment,” Acheampong said. “One of the key campaign promises was the provision of flexible loans for young entrepreneurs to strengthen their businesses. But sadly, that initiative was completely absent in the first budget presented by the Finance Minister.”
Mr.Acheampong further criticised the government’s introduction of the Adwumawura project, which he claimed is merely a rebranded version of the previous administration’s YouStart program.
According to him, this approach is not only misleading but also an attempt to obscure the lack of original solutions tailored to the needs of Ghanaian youth.
“We were promised innovative policies that would uplift young people and create jobs. Instead, what we see is an attempt to relaunch an old policy under a new name. The Adwumawura initiative is simply a repackaged version of YouStart, and it is a deliberate attempt to confuse the public,” he said.
In addition, Mr. Acheampong raised serious concerns about the recent 14.75% hike in electricity tariffs, warning that such a move poses a direct threat to the success of the NDC’s flagship 24-hour economy policy.
He argued that since the policy heavily depends on industrialisation and a consistent power supply, rising utility costs will place unnecessary pressure on businesses and render the initiative unsustainable.
“We cannot talk about a 24-hour economy if industries are crippled by high electricity bills. The 14.75% increase in tariffs will only hurt the very industries that are supposed to drive the policy, which, on the day, will increase the unemployment rate among the youth”.
He called on President Mahama to demonstrate leadership by revisiting these key issues with urgency and transparency.
He also issued a rallying call to civil society organisations, labour unions, student bodies, and all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the campaign in demanding immediate action from the government.
