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Research must focus on post-secondary youth unemployment …Media, researchers urged
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Mr Samuel Akrasi, Principal of the Otaakrom Technical Institute in the Atwima Mponua District, has urged the media and research institutions to pay greater attention to youth unemployment after second-cycle education in the country.
He said increased reportage and research on unemployment among graduates of senior high schools and other second-cycle institutions would help create awareness at both grassroots and national levels and compel authorities and stakeholders to take the necessary steps to address the challenge.
Mr Akrasi made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of four workshops for the Institute.
He stressed the need for the media and researchers to investigate and publish data on unemployed graduates from senior high schools and other second-cycle institutions, noting that, in his view, the number of unemployed youth from such institutions exceeded those from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
According to him, TVET institutions produced more employable and self-employed youth than other second-cycle institutions in the country.
Mr Akrasi appealed for increased investment in TVET institutions through improved infrastructure, logistics, and training support to make technical education more attractive and accessible to the youth.
The principal noted that TVET education was becoming increasingly modernised and described the proposed workshops, expected to be completed within 18 months, as timely and beneficial to trainees.
The $7.5 million project, funded by the Social Investment Fund (SIF), includes an administration block and modern workshops for the Fashion Designing, Catering, Electricals, and Agro-Processing Departments of the Institute.
Mr Abass Nurudeen, Chief Executive Officer of SIF, said the project formed part of the 28 million-dollar Post-COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP), which seeks to improve the local economy by empowering the youth with employable skills under the TVET programme.
Mr Issahak Ibrahim, District Chief Executive for Atwima Mponua, described the project as a symbol of hope, opportunity and innovation that would help nurture a skilled generation for the district and beyond. –GNA
Former Awutu Senya East Member of Parliament, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has been elected the National Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
She secured 738 votes to defeat her main contender, Mohammed Safia, who polled 429 votes in the election held on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
The election formed part of the NPP’s National Delegates Conference, which brought together delegates from across the country to elect new national executives for the party.
The conference was characterised by a colourful display of the NPP’s red, white and blue colours, with party supporters and delegates filling the stadium ahead of the various elections.
Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was among the prominent personalities who attended the delegates conference ahead of the elections.
Following the declaration of the results, Hawa Koomson moved around the stadium with some of her supporters, thanking delegates for voting for her and expressing confidence in her ability to lead the party’s women’s wing.
Speaking after her victory, Hawa Koomson said she would bring her experience and maturity to the position and work to strengthen the party’s women’s structures.
She indicated that she would work with her former contender, Mohammed Safia, despite the competition between them during the election.
“We are all NPP members and we are going to work together for victory,” she said.
According to her, her immediate task would be to unite the women of the party and mobilise them to contribute effectively to the NPP’s activities at the grassroots and national levels.
She called for greater support and solidarity among women, and recounted an experience in which she said another woman helped save her life after she was attacked.
Using the experience, Mrs Koomson urged women to have one another’s backs, stressing that women should be ready to support and defend each other.
The former MP spoke about her political journey and her return to a national leadership position after losing the Awutu Senya East parliamentary seat.
She said she had never regarded her political journey as a failure and was proud to have reached the national level to serve the party.
Mrs Koomson said her decision to contest the National Women’s Organiser position was driven by her desire to continue contributing to the NPP and use her experience to support the party.
Hawa Koomson explained the need for women to protect themselves, including the use of pepper spray as a means of self-defence when faced with danger.
She encouraged women to support and defend one another, drawing from her own experience of being attacked and helped by another woman who intervened to save her.
As National Women’s Organiser, she will be responsible for coordinating and mobilising women across the party, strengthening the women’s wing at the constituency and regional levels, and increasing their participation in party activities.
She is expected to work closely with the newly elected national executives to strengthen the party’s structures and prepare its women’s wing for the party’s future political activities.
Mrs Koomson thanked the delegates for the confidence they had placed in her and pledged to work with members of the party as she begins her new role.
By: Jacob Aggrey
John Boadu has been elected as the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following the party’s National Delegates Conference held on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
Boadu secured a decisive victory with 2,888 votes, beating his closest contender Boakye Agyarko who polled 2,408 votes.
Former Chairman Paul Afoko garnered 790 votes, while Sammy Crabbe managed 41 votes.
The victory marks a major political comeback for John Boadu, who previously served as the party’s General Secretary.
Ahead of the elections, Sammy Crabbe had reportedly pulled out of the race to form an alliance with John Boadu, a move that appears to have strengthened Boadu’s numbers on the day.
The keenly contested chairmanship race was a highlight of the 2026 National Executives Election, which drew thousands of delegates from across the country to Kumasi.
Boadu is expected to lead the party’s reorganization efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
