NABCO trainees appeal for allowances, permanent jobs

Five months after trainees of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) took to the streets to lay bare their grievances, the government has not yet met their demands.

According to the National Secretary of NABCO, Mr. Frank Quansah, the trainees continued to face difficult living conditions with no assurance of being paid after government directives to remain at post despite over seven months' unsettled allowance.

Mr. Quansah disclosed this during an exclusive telephone interview with the Ghanaian Times on June 16.

He revealed that some trainees were still at post after the government promised permanent employment in November last year. However, other trainees had abandoned posts due to the non-payment of their allowances.

The secretary lamented, "some of us had to take loans, so we survive, and lenders are on our neck to pay back, and since government has not paid, we are unable to pay back our debt."

Mr. Quansah hinted that government had passed the June 10 ultimatum; hence "we would hold a press conference in the coming days to reveal our next line of action and possibly another demonstration."

He appealed to the government to heed their plea and fulfil its promise of a permanent job, saying that "the initial agreement with the government was not to enrol us on the YouStartprogramme since all of them have been trained for specific skills."

In a separate interview with some NABCO trainees Educate Ghana Module, James Bri Twum expressed his frustration with the government over the numerous failed promises of permanent employment, adding that "now we don't trust the government anymore because earlier on the President assured us of permanent employment and till date, we still remain unemployed."

Also, Isaac Mitzabeyela questioned the government's plans to enrol NABCO trainees on the YouStart, saying "I am on the Educate Ghana module; I'm wondering where I will get the funds to establish a school."

He revealed that October 2021 was the last time he received part of his allowance and appealed to the government to settle their unpaid allowance and provide a better alternative.

All attempts to contact the Chief Executive Officer of NABCO, Dr. Ibrahim Anyars, to comment on the issue proved futile.

It could be recalled that the trainees in February this year embarked on a demonstration to compel the government to address their grievances.

The programme is a government initiative that was created to address graduate unemployment to solve social problems in the country. The 36-month programme has three phases – six-month probation, 24-month work placement and six months of exit preparation.

The scheme currently operates through seven modules: Educate Ghana, Heal Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Digitise Ghana, Civic Ghana and Enterprise Ghana.