Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo Constituency, Hon. Alfred Nii Ashie Kotey, has called on young people in the area to take advantage of his youth skills training and empowerment programme to make meaning out of their lives.
Speaking at the sidelines of the graduation of 27 trainees from the first batch, the legislator said the one-and-a-half-year journey required intensive monitoring to ensure trainees completed their courses.
“Even when they were training, I was observing. I was monitoring. I personally go round. I have a team of two. We go round to do the monitoring,” he said.
“But more often than not, I would rather go behind them to also go and verify or double-check what it is that they are telling me. That is the only way you can get accurate information. Not that I don’t trust them. But I learned that from the late former President Rawlings. That even if he gives you a job to go and do, he personally will go behind monitoring,” he added.
The Odododiodoo lawmaker disclosed that the hands-on approach helped him identify trainees who had stopped attending training and stayed at home.
“That’s how I got to know some of them had gone to sit in the house, and I followed up to their homes, discussed with their parents, and found out what the challenges were. And I did what I called one-on-one to meet those challenges. Just to get them back. And to the glory of God, today they are done,” he said.
The MP, who currently serves as Chairman of the Mobilisation Committee of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, said his doors remain open to all youth in the constituency regardless of political affiliation.
“I want to tell all the young people that I’m here for them. I’m here to serve them. So long as they are willing to make meaning out of their lives, they’ll have me at their back to support them and make that happen,” he assured.
“They should reach out to us. They should come to our office and register with the administrator in the office. Tell us what it is that they want to do. Once we collect all of that information, we’ll be able to categorize them into all their respective fields, and then we’ll take them out to their madams and their master trainers.”
He stressed that the programme is non-partisan and open to the entire community.
“I know the young women and men who came here by face because I had visited them over the while while they were training. Either two, I didn’t even know them. So I will not care whether you are NDC, NPP, People’s Party, so long as you are a young person in my constituency, you are willing to learn; when you come, I’ll support you. That’s how we opened it up for everyone interested to come to the office and register.”
“This is something that is meant for the people. It has nothing to do with politics at all,” he added.
The graduates expressed gratitude to Hon. Nii Ashie Kotey for this timely intervention to ensure they get employable skills which will go a long way to shape their future.
By Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor
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