Does Ghana Have A Ministry Of Youth Beyond Football?

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Nya
National Youth Authority
NYA Logo

It?s not a matter of question and answer, neither is it a test of argumentative skills. But to say the least, the obvious would have been easy without a thought. When it comes to the Ministry of Youth and Sports there is always the skewed agenda towards sports at the expense of total youth empowerment.

For ?doubting Thomas?s? just log-on to the Ministry?s website and you will find the content of its homepage entirely sports-related. The news and features are all informing readers of the Ministry?s interventions in sports. To the extent that the forum of eminent football administrators which is alleged to have been besieged with brawls has a space.

This misguided approach and displacement of youth within the Ministry is not new. Even within the sports fraternity there is a one-sided approach that favours soccer. And within soccer, interventions are skewed towards the senior national team.

In 2010 it was evident there is nothing to show at the Ministry and even the National Youth Authority when comes to achievement made in empowering young people in Ghana excerpt in sports. Then all that were on display at the youth stand during the National Policy Fair were couple of old-rusting trophies and some crumpled NYA leaflets.

Without much progress in blending the two, it seems we all have to tie our frustration to that of the Minister when an entire interview is dedicated to sports. ?He himself confesses, it feels uncomfortable when you spend a whole time talking football at the expense of youth.

As typical of a politician and government appointee he requested for time to talk about youth empowerment; possibly, to win sympathy and please his critics for this waywardness.

The commitments towards youth empowerment is multifaceted but it is all embedded in a mainstreamed agenda of everything youth. It is apparent; we have failed as a nation in integrating all commitments towards the total development of Ghanaian and now we have to deal with a divided attention. And as the good book says, ??a house divided against itself cannot stand??.

To take a cue from Kenya, Emmanuel Dennis writes ??when we lobbied to have the Ministry of Youth Affairs in 2006, President Kibaki heeded to our calls based on the fact that the ?Mainstreaming of Youth? agenda had failed. Many gains have been felt since then??.

As indicative, the ?Ministry of Youth and Sports has since the first Republic undergone several changes in its structure and functions??. Interestingly enough, these changes seem not to have done the magic??. We still have problems when it comes to youth.

Clearly, we need to keep tweaking. But should all the politics cease, then the least attachment we expect is not a sector run by some ?mafias? who merely think of their players as boys and sees sports and the Ministry as an avenue to raise money to ?line their pocket? at the expense of youth.

 

Bernard Kwofie

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