Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah has urged the youth to be responsible and work effortlessly to push the developmental agenda of the country to the zenith.
According to the Chief Justice, the youth hold the key to Ghana’s future and the future could only be bright if they sit up and contribute their quota to development.
His contestation was that, “it is impossible to overstate the need to devote oneself to the service of our country. Often, it is thought that service to our motherland can only be delivered from some particular positions.
“The truth, however, is far from this. A nation’s greatness is collected as a sum of the individual efforts of its citizens, wherever and however they may apply themselves.
“A nation cannot be great if only its public servants are great. A nation is not truly great until all of its citizens are bound by a sense of duty to the collective good.
“So what I want to say to you young people here and the millions out there who cannot be here today is that your efforts are what will make this country, like those ones beyond the seas that I am sure you admire.”
His Lordship made the call at the annual youth mentorship programme held in Accra last week, under the theme: “I Pledge Myself to the Service of Ghana.”
Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah challenged the youth to be innovative and channel their ideas into projects that would put Ghana to come at a level with its peers in development.
He informed his target audience who were mainly students and pupils from selected schools in the Greater Accra region that the mentorship programme was designed to inspire them on how to serve Ghana with a career in law or other fields of endeavour.
His Lordship believes that mentorship is a guide for the youth to make certain critical decisions now and later in life.
He expects that whatever career decision the students will make should be based not only on competence at their tasks but integrity, patriotism and belief in themselves and the love for the nation, as “those are the values that will differentiate you from others and set you and our nation on the path to greatness.”
The chairperson of the Minerals Commission Board of Directors, Barbara Oteng Gyasi, on behalf of First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, urged the youth to be diligent, and courageous and not to be dismayed by circumstances surrounding them since there is a whole future ahead of them.
She added that in order for Ghana to progress or survive the currents, impeding development, the citizens need to do their best, since: “As leaders of tomorrow, Ghana’s fate in this uncertain world rests squarely upon your shoulders along with the millions of your colleagues sitting in classrooms around the country.
“Do not be discouraged by these challenges (Ghana’s challenges), instead, envision a future in which you take on and defeat these challenges.
“Be excited about the future when you will have the opportunity to manage this country even better than any of us who have come before you.”
Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr BarnabaYisa said the Fund is positive about its association with the “Chief Justice Mentoring Programme.”
Mr Yisa said for the past five years that the UNFPA joined the programme, he can testify how young people had been empowered to become drivers of change, particularly poor and vulnerable people, who otherwise would be out of school.
Facilitators
The students and pupils were inspired by Justice Eric KyeiBaffour and Justice Georgina Mensah Datsa, both Justices of the Court of Appeal, Ms Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Yaw Oppong, Director of the Ghana School of Law and Yaw Acheampong Boafo, President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) took turns to address the participating students.
Participating Schools
The participating schools included; Adjen Kotoku Senior High School, Kwabenya Senior High School, Frafraha Senior High School, Amasaman Senior High School and Al-Basar Senior High School.
The others were; Morning Star School, EP Church Junior High School, Achimota Junior High School, Martyrs of Uganda Junior High School and the School for the Blind, Akropong.
Other participants were the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Orange girls.
The Mentorship Programme
The Chief Justice Mentoring Programme was initiated by former Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood in 2007 to help students make life-long decisions, especially in law or in other intellectual fields of endeavour.
Through the mentorship programme, the likes of Najat Abrahim and Sallah Abudu (Kayayee or head porters) have gone back to school and are respectively pursuing careers in building technology at the Accra Technical University and a degree in nursing at the University of Ghana.
