Revive the Workers Brigade

Along the campaign stops of the CPP candidate for President, he has called for the revival of several of the programs that were in place in the 1960s specifically to solve the nations unemployment problems. One such call is the revival of the Workers Brigade, and we believe it will serve the nations youth very well to understand the circumstances leading to the formation of this corps of youth employees by the CPP administration for the majority to determine why Dr. Nduom suggests it a good idea to revive the Workers Brigade.

The Builder’s Brigade (set up with the assistance of Israel), as an example of human capital formation through on-the-job training, served as the base to train skilled artisans such as carpenters and masons, for example, who were sent out to help out on some of the” communal labor” projects. The Builders (later named Workers) Brigade was formed to:

(1) Provide jobs and training for the unemployed;

(2) To engage the youth in farming and construction activities; and

(3) Instill sense of self-pride and nationhood in the members.

The Brigade was initially set up in 1957 to absorb veterans of WW II, school dropouts, and other unemployed people to prepare them for productive life. In September 1959, after a Ghanaian delegation led by John Tettegah returned from a visit to Israel, Tettegah was named Commander of the Brigade. An Israel advisory delegation that visited Ghana soon after the Tettegah trip indicated that the Brigade as constituted at that time lacked a clear purpose. The Israelis proposed a cooperative agricultural settlement similar to the Nahal or the Kibbutz system in Israel. Ghana rejected that proposal. What came out of the consultation with Israel was a “work and training” program in modern agricultural techniques, adult literacy, and training in various vocations such as construction (carpentry and masonry), tractor operation and maintenance, auto mechanics, plumbing, and electricals.

The Brigade members wore uniforms and were given some very basic “para-military” training – essentially foot drills and exercises. The Brigade camps - 30 in all- were set up throughout the country. The Okponglo Camp, for example – between Tetteh-Quarshie Circle and Legon – trained the members in auto-mechanics, carpentry and masonry, weaving, embroidery, and other crafts for women. The Essiam camp in Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam district in the Central Region, for example was an agricultural camp that set up extensive citrus and oil palm farms in addition to the annual cultivation of corn, cassava and vegetables. Some of the carpenters and masons from the brigade camps were sent to various communities that were undertaking community self-help projects like building schools, health centers, markets, streets and feeder roads, etc.

The Brigade mobilized technically untrained and partly delinquent individuals and converted them into disciplined and organized workers’ groups. It operated 30 well-administered farms employing modern methods and quipped with heavy machinery for which ample maintenance crews had been trained. The Somanya Camp, for example, became one of the show places to which visiting foreign dignitaries were taken.

The Brigade farms had a strong demonstrative effect on surrounding villages. Farmers in the vicinity of the camps attempted to put into practice new farming methods they had seen there.

We do believe that a revival of such a project would help curb unemployment in the country as well as train the youth in some skill areas. The brigade, when revived, should be required to set production targets on annual basis.

The lack of financial accountability was one of the major defects of the Brigade of the Nkrumah era. The Brigade farms to be established should be linked with out-grower schemes in which local farmers would be given assistance to put into practice the modern agricultural techniques at the camps. For example, a brigade camp growing oil palm should be linked with local farmers that would set up their oil palm farms with extension service from the Brigade. The Brigade working together with the local farmers, a rural bank and the district assembly would operate palm oil processing plant to supply oil for soap manufacturers. The agricultural waste from the palm oil processing could be used for generating electricity in a boiler system or the waste could go towards the production of charcoal briquettes.

We believe the benefits to the nation for reviving the Worker’s Brigade will even be more beneficial today in light of the triple digit unemployment figures the youth are experiencing.

Nana Apau
Convention People’s Party North America
[email protected]