The National Coordinator of the Nation’s Builders Corps (NABCO), Dr. Ibrahim Anyass, has rejected claims that the recruits who were in Accra for the passing out ceremony were forced to attend by paying GHc100 cedis each.
There are reports that the recruits were to pay the GHc100 as transportation for the passing out ceremony held at the Black Star Square in Accra on Wednesday.
But speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV, Dr. Anyass said the recruits came to the venue “voluntarily and on their own terms.”
“No cost element was put on the scheme from the point of application till now. No report has come to our attention that any NABCO recruit was asked to pay any money. Those who came travelled on their own,” he said.
“We took the registration processes all the way to the district level for a period of eight weeks. NABCO has never sanctioned an individual or a sum to be paid to any individual or group of persons for any sort of favour to be done on the scheme,” he added.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday commissioned the about 100,000 beneficiaries of the NABCO program at a ceremony held at the Black Star Square in Accra.
The recruits will receive a monthly stipend of GHc700.
President Nana Akufo-Addo at the passing out ceremony admonished the recruits not to consider the GHc700 stipend as free money but should work hard to earn it.
“You must bear in mind that government is investing some GH¢3 billion cedis of taxpayers’ money into this programme. Your monthly GH¢700 is not free money and you must earn every pesewa of it which I’m confident you’ll do,” he said.
NABCO will succeed
Nana Akufo-Addo further hit back at critics who downplayed the impact of the NABCO initiative saying it will succeed.
“As has become the norm with every bold initiative proposed by this administration, this programme, predictably, was not only ridiculed in certain quarters, but also met with pessimistic and cynical comments with some going to the extent of urging graduates from our nations tertiary institutions not to register for the programme. In NABCO we have planted the seeds of growth and future of our country. I am in no doubt whatsoever that NABCO will succeed,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo also said government will find other avenues to find jobs for the youth.
“This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a day when we begin the process of banishing the specter of desperation and restoring hope and dignity to our youth,” he added.
Trainee nurses, midwives kick against NABCO
The Ghana Nurses and Midwife Trainees Association, were dissappointed with government over the NABCO programme saying government should employ them permanently instead of recruiting them on NABCO.
In May, the Public Relations Officer of the Association, Akugri Gaddafi, stated on Eyewitness News that the remuneration package for nurses in the programme is unfair, suggesting that newly-employed certificate nurses earn about 1, 100 cedis, while diploma and degree nurses earn between 1, 600 cedis and 1, 800 cedis, all much higher than the 700 cedis persons employed under the scheme are set to earn.
NaBCo jobs not compulsory – Coordinator tells agitated nurses
The Coordinator of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo), Dr. Ibrahim Anyass, explained that although there are openings for graduate nurses to be employed under the scheme, application for the jobs is not compulsory.
According to him, the project had been initiated by the government as a stopgap measure to allow graduates from tertiary institutions who had completed their mandatory year of National Service gain vital work experience while ensuring that they continue to practice the skills they have learnt.
He thus explained that that nurses who do not wish to be part of the scheme cannot be forced to apply.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
