Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, Employment Minister
Over a 1000 young men and women in the Hohoe Municipality who are involved in all manner of activities on the streets of Hohoe for survival have been given an opportunity for a better life.
They have been put into a skill training programme being implemented by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), with support from the Rural Enterprise Programme, the Hohoe Municipal Assembly and the Association for Small Scale Industries (ASSI).
The programme dubbed: “Apprentice to Entrepreneur” has so far trained about 310 persons with over 700 being trained to improve their lives and that of their dependents.
Speaking at the graduation of the 310 craftsmen, Jois-Noel Quartey-Papafio, the acting Director of Administration of NBSSI, announced that her outfit was committed to training 10,000 youth in two years under the programme, saying “this is just the beginning”.
The Hohoe Municipality is located in the Volta Region on a land of 1,403km2. The capital, Hohoe, which has been described as the commercial centre of the region due to its strategic location on the Eastern Corridor road, has become the destination of many who move from other parts of the Volta and Oti regions, as well as other parts of the country for a better life.
The phenomenon has increased the level of youth unemployment in Hohoe with many of them living on the streets and engaging in all kinds of activities to make a living, including illegal ones.
It is for this reason that the NBSSI and its partners – the Hohoe Assembly, the Rural Enterprise Programme and the ASSI are implementing the skill training programme to make the many young people employed.
The ‘Apprentice to Entrepreneur’ project has given the youth skills like vehicle spraying, carpentry, mechanical works, electrical works, electronics, fashion designing, bread making, hair dressing, graphic designing, leather works, among others.
A 20-year-old young lady, Davor Delali, is now a qualified sprayer. She said although many expressed skepticisms of her venturing into a male dominated area, many are now happy with her because her output and the benefits had started to pay off.
Most of them were happy that apart from the practical training, they had the opportunity to meet once every month at the business advisory centre for theory, strategy and also other tips on how to add value to the things they make to meet global standards.
Speaking at the graduation of the 310 who had perfected their craft, Stanley Odira, one of the craftsmen who trained the youth, said they were motivated to offer their services to curb the spate of social vices since “the devil finds work for idle hands.”
Rev. Wisdom Klutse, Chairman of the Hohoe Municipal ASSI, stressed the need for adequate equipment and training materials for the 730 beneficiaries currently under training.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)