24 Graduates given lifeline at Asanko Mines
Twenty-four completed national service personnel with mining firm, Asanko, who otherwise would have joined their colleague unemployed graduates, have been given a lifeline with a two-year training programme for employment in the firm.
In all, more than 100 of such graduates have benefitted from Asanko's new initiative since 2017 to conform with the new mineral and mining legislative Instrument 2431(2020) to improve the local content law.
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The law enjoins mining firms to submit a budget of training of such people and collaborate with the country's universities to develop Ghana's manpower in that field.
Launch
At the official launch of the programme at Manso Abore in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region yesterday, the Organisational Capability Manager of Asanko, Mr. Mohaiden Mohammed, said the beneficiaries included 80 per cent of those who had had their service with the company and 20 per cent from within the communities where it operated.
He said the move was to improve on the ratio to 70:30 by next year, hoping to reach a 50:50 percentage ratio in three years.
Currently, females constitute 33 per cent of the beneficiaries with the hope of reaching a female-male parity within the same three years.
Employment
Per the internal arrangements, the mines is expected to absorb a chunk of them into the "system" others to be engaged by contractors working with the mines while those unable to meet the benchmark will move out to the open job market to look for jobs.
Indeed, those who made it as permanent staff were presented with their certificates.
Mr. Mohammed reckoned that the practice used to exit more than 20 years ago among some mining firms including AnglogGold Ashanti, but had been stalled for many years.
He said the focus would be to engage 60 per cent of those in the sciences with 40 per cent within the humanities and urged the newly trained graduates to adjust quickly to the new technology trends to remain relevant.
Heads up
The General Manager of Asanko, Mr. Andrew McGowan, urged the beneficiaries to hold their heads up and high to scale up their personal development.
In a message sent to the launch, the Executive Vice-president and Managing Director of Asanko Mines, Mr. Frederick Attakumah, who mooted the idea for the reactivation of the graduates training programme, challenged the benefits to live up to the billing by impacting the company positively.
He said the company would roll out regular training regimes to make employees relevant in a digitalised world.
Advice
The common thread that ran through pieces of advice offered by the various managers said character would also be preferred against skills because an unskilled person could be trained but a person without character could not.