Abrogation of GYEEDA contracts cost 450,000 jobs

Over 450,000 jobs were lost as a result of the cancellation of contracts between the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) and its service providers, Minister of Youth and Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has revealed.

According to him, the cancellation of contracts between GYEEDA and its service providers was a courageous step taken by government which needed commendation.

According to a report on Myjoyonline.com, Mr Afriyie Ankrah expressed disappointment that the public had refused to recognise the bold decisions taken by president John Mahama on GYEEDA as a major step in tackling corruption in government.

“If there is an instance where he's taken courageous steps, I think that it's important that we commend that particular action whilst we can criticise other things that we think are not going on right,” he said.

Mr Afriyie Ankrah noted that, “This is not the first time there has been issues and allegations about corruption in high places but let us look at the actions that have been taken at the highest level; canceling major, major contracts even at political risk [resulting in 450,000 job losses]...so at least something has been done.” 

Government early this year announced the abrogation of all GYEEDA contracts following reports of financial impropriety and the lopsided nature of the contracts.

The contracts cancelled included Rlg Communication's training module, Asongtaba Cottage Industry & Exchange Programme (ACI&EP) and the Better Ghana Management Services Limited, a subsidiary of Jospong Group, the parent company of Zoomlion.