John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has unveiled plans to restructure the Youth and Sports Ministry to better cater to the needs of Ghana’s youth population.
During the unveiling of the NDC’s National Youth Wing Secretariat and Campaign on Friday, March 29, 2024, Mr. Mahama emphasized the importance of a more holistic approach to youth development.
He outlined that the restructured ministry would focus on enhancing youth participation and status across all sectors of the economy, aiming to integrate youth interests into various industries beyond sports.
Mr. Mahama highlighted the need to shift the current focus on sports, particularly football, to a broader spectrum of sports and developmental opportunities for the youth.
His vision for the reformed ministry includes the establishment of a youth development service dedicated to creating job opportunities for young people. This service will also support his 24-hour economy initiative, aimed at driving economic growth and job creation round-the-clock.
Mr. Mahama stated, “We are going to separate Youth and Sports because it’s a youth and sports ministry but over the years, what we do is that the concentration is on sports and even on sports, the concentration is on Black Stars at the expense of any other sports. So I’m going to set up a service for Youth development. It will focus primarily on Youth status in all sectors of the economy.”
He further added, “It will focus on mainstreaming youth interest in all sectors of the economy. And most of all, we will concentrate on bringing on strategies that will create jobs for young people and this Ministry will support the 24-hour economy.”