An independent presidential candidate for the 2024 elections, Mr Wilberforce Andrews, says he will prioritise sports and its various disciplines to create massive employment for the teaming youth in the country if he wins.
The various disciplines of sports, he said, were critical areas that have not been properly harnessed in the country’s quest to find a workable solution to the disturbing figures of unemployment among the youth.
This was contained in his statement of ambition and areas of priority to overcome the challenges of youth unemployment, as far as his pursuit to lead the country as a president was concerned.
Explaining further to The Chronicle, Mr Wilberforce hinted that Ghanaian youth were naturally endowed with enviable talents in all the sporting disciplines, but there was no systematic push from the government.
“If you monitor the Schools and Colleges Games, you realise that talents in all the disciplines are abound across the country, but there are no deliberate plans to always nurture these talents and this is one area that is dear to my heart.
“I will prioritise sports in the country, build massive infrastructure for same and institute scholarship packages for the youth who are interested in sports and desire to pursue same as career,” he added.
Sports, particularly football, he said was a big investment that could be explored in addition to farming to improve the socio-economic fortunes of the country and the youth in particular.
Mr Wilberforce has, therefore, promised to commercialise football in the country, where his government would assist clubs to pay their players appreciable monthly wages, so as to improve the plights of footballers.
Introduction of integrated identity system
According to Mr Andrews, a government under him would build a robust data system that would be integrated with the old one to give Ghanaians one Identity Card at no cost to the holder.
This system, he said, would consist of voter, NHIS and Ghana Card, as well as any other card that a Ghanaian is supposed to have and would be fully synchronised with a centralised data base.
A well-coordinated centralised data base, he explained, would go a long way to assist in the fight against cyber related crimes, clean up all government institutions and rid them of “ghost names”.
“We annually hear of how ghost names strangely invade government payroll systems and how much the tax payers’ money is wasted on such highly avoidable situations.
“With my proposed integrated system, which will be linked to a centralised data base, those ghosts will not be able to find their names into payroll systems in the country again,” he explained.
He, therefore, called on the electorate to shift away from the traditional voting patterns that have charactarised the inception of the 4th Republic where no Independent Presidential Candidate has survived the dominance of both NDC and NPP.
Vision for other professionals
According to Mr Andrews, a government under him would use the National Vocational Training Institute to train more youth whose expertise would be needed both in Ghana and other countries. “There are other areas that Ghana, as a country has the comparative advantage to produce more professionals because we have a very active population who are eager to work.
Many youths can be trained as carpenters, block layers, electricians and welders and these youth could be assisted to travel outside the country to seek greener pastures”, said Mr Andrews.
Profile of Mr Wilberforce Andrews
Mr Wilberforce Andrews works as International Coordinator for Africa Awake Foundation for Ghana, South Africa and South Korea and the Chairman for the Group of Human Rights Research and Advocacy Team on Rights Abuses.
He was appointed to conduct research on Suspects’ Rights by Youth for Human Rights Africa in 2017, where he reported about suspect abuses and unlawful detentions in various police stations in Central Region.
He was a Director – in Charge of Operations for United Nations Youth Association of Ghana (UNYA-GH) in 2013.
He was later appointed as Central Regional President for United Nations Association of Ghana (UNA -Gh) in 2017and now the National Treasure.
He is the BUSAC (IMF) Local Facilitator and once worked at Enyan Denkyira Rural Bank Limited in 1994. He is a Farmer and an Entrepreneur.
