Members of the Nation Builder’s Corps (NABCo) has given government a month ultimatum to pay nine months outstanding arrears owed trainees.

According to the group, all efforts to get government to pay arrears owed trainees have not yielded needed results.

It revealed that in November 2021, the coalition expressed its mistrust of the government’s renewed promise to “transition graduating participants on the Nabco programme to the youstart programme”.

This, the group noted, was captured in paragraph 247 page 61, number Xi of the 2022 budget statement read by the finance minister in the same month the NABCO contract ended.

Furthermore, the Coalition noted that the YouStart promise to NABCO trainees was just to create a “public smokescreen” of a good intention and “blindfold the beneficiaries who were aggrieved by the NPP government’s fractured failure and forfeiture of the earlier promise to transition NABCO participants into the mainstream works”.

“The Government has one one-month ultimatum to pay us all the 9-month outstanding arrears. We do not want to have any business with the Nana Addo Bawumia-led government again.”
Nation Builder’s Corps

NABCo criticizes government’s scheme

Contained in a statement signed by NABCo’s national secretary, Frank Evans Quansah, it lamented that its anticipation has become the reality as ground sampling and enquiries prove that, so far, none of the NABCO beneficiaries who applied for the YouStart grants was called for the recent phase one of the grants disbursement.

In fact, it highlighted that the YouStart programme has been another “fiscal machinery” to pacify aggrieved NPP party foot soldiers visa-vis resourcing the tall list of apparatchiks, family and friends of NPP movement appointees.

“We have already lost trust in Nana Addo/Bawumia led government. All we need now is 9 months arrears fully settled as we don’t want to have any business to do with this government again.”
Nation Builder’s Corps

Moreover, considering the current state of the program and its impact on trainees, NABCo cautioned NPP government to put an end to hailing and praising non-functional NABCO scheme. It explained that the scheme hasn’t so far accomplished the rational for which it was created in its national budget every year as an achievement.

“We are going to intercept any partisan utterances, any signages that will leverage on the failed NABCO scheme in an attempt to win votes in come 2024 general elections.”
Nation Builder’s Corps

Over the period, beneficiaries of the Nations Builders Corps (NaBCo) have reminded government about their outstanding arrears.

In a statement issued by the National President NABTAG, Dennis Opoku Katakyie, earlier in the year, it noted that payment that was made to cover December 2021, still have some validated trainees not receiving theirs, coupled with reposted GRA Trainees also being unattended to.

As a result, the group stated that it will be forced to stage its next massive picketing at the Ministry of Finance to demand all arrears if government fails to pay up as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has revealed that the majority of beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCo) program who were under the Grow Food module have all secured employment as Agric Extension Officers at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

According to him, NABCO which was no longer in existence trained several beneficiaries who could fit anywhere.

The President indicated that the initiative had been beneficial to an enormous number of the youth, and that the notion of the program not benefiting anyone should be erased.