Mr John Dramani Mahama has said the Ghanaian youth today see no future so far as they remain in the country of their birth due to the mismanagement of the economy by the government.
He said if care is not taken, some graduates and post-graduate degree holders may hit the pension age and may never have been employed in their entire lives, except for national service.
He noted that the desire for Ghanaian youth to flee abroad for menial jobs should be a worry to all stakeholders.
Speaking at the launch of his campaign to become NDC flagbearer again in the Volta region on Thursday, 2 March 2023, Mr Mahama said the mass exodus of Ghanaian professionals to seek greener pastures abroad must be of concern to all.
He told his audience that “The youth see no future in their country of birth. They see no silver lining at the edge of the clouds, which often appears dark and gloomy, with no ray of sunshine seeping through.
“Who is to blame them when after years of struggling to earn an education, they are condemned to unemployment and acute lack of opportunities? If not remedied, through my agenda to Build The Ghana We Want Together from 2025, some graduates and post-graduate degree holders may hit the pension age and never employed in their entire lives, save for national service.”
He indicated that “It should worry us deeply that the average young Ghanaian would grasp any opportunity to flee the despondent climate under which they live in favour of even the most menial jobs in other countries.
“We have always had our people going in search of greener pastures abroad, but the current mass exodus of active workers and professionals is profoundly worrying.”
Mr Mahama believes the loss of all hope that anything good can come out of this country or that any available opportunities will be equitably shared among our people has accounted for this.
He said for some sections of the population, “the unravelling of our national fabric and the collapse of our economy under this government forms sufficient basis to dismiss all public office holders and politicians, both in government and out of government, as the same.”
The former Ghanaian leader is of the view that some Ghanaians have lost all hope in the democratic experiment and believe it is no better than other forms of governance and “these are the predictable effects of the betrayal of the people’s trust by the President, his Vice and crop of officials.”
According to Mr Mahama, Ghana’s present state and its effects on the citizens troubles him a lot and that is why at every significant wrong turn taken by government, he has, with the benefit of experience, provided alternative solutions and even offered the expertise and knowledge of some of his party’s members to help get us out of the challenges.
Mr Mahama who is calling for a change of government noted that he knows how to deliver that badly needed change because, during the last three to four years, he has studied Ghana’s problems, he has listened to each and every Ghanaian, and to a variety of scholars and experts and can say with full confidence that he has learnt a lot during the period and ready to be the President Ghanaians are looking for.