Akuapim North lawmaker, Hon. Samuel Awuku, has taken the administration to task for failing to demonstrate tangible progress regarding youth job creation in the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, describing the official presentation as a mere compilation of tasks instead of a meaningful assessment of results.
Participating in parliamentary discussions, the MP maintained that the Ghanaian youth are primarily interested in whether securing sustainable employment, acquiring trade skills, or starting an enterprise has become more feasible halfway through 2026.
“On the evidence the answer is no,” he stated.
The legislator asserted that the mid-year financial update ought to function as an evaluation of performance rather than a simple log of contracts and disbursements.
“Inventories Mr Speaker do not pay rent in Accra. Inventory of activity does not pay school fees or feed anyone,” he said.
Referencing data supplied by the Ghana Statistical Service, Hon. Awuku pointed out that although overall joblessness was registered at 12.8% across the initial three quarters of 2025, the rate among citizens aged 15 to 35 reached 21.9%.
He stressed that almost 1.95 million youths remain detached from work, schooling, or vocational preparation.
“That is a population the size of Kumasi sitting idle and doing nothing,” he said.
He insisted that the financial update completely lacks a reference point for youth engagement, offers no concrete targets for reduction, and omits figures showing how many young citizens have transitioned into lasting work.
“Government cannot ask this house to accept as progress a youth jobs record that it refuses to measure,” Hon. Awuku said.
The Akuapim North MP subsequently urged the Ministry of Finance to submit definitive criteria concerning youth employment and demonstrate how life has genuinely improved for young Ghanaians across the country.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
