‘Let’s revive voluntary spirit in youth’
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asuogyaman, Mr Samuel Kwame Agyekum, has called for the revival and inculcation of voluntary spirit in the youth.
He said the forerunners of the country such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the others who ruled the country succeeded because of the voluntary spirit in them and inculcated same in their followers not for their personal monetary gains saying that was why they succeeded.
He noted that the present Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo- led government was reviving the voluntary spirit that had simmered over the years, hence the setting up of the National Youth Authority.
“The present generation and the youth of today are so money-conscious that there is nothing they will do without asking for monetary rewards. The voluntary spirit that our leaders of old used to develop the country has been thrown to the dogs. Nobody wants to sacrifice and do anything free to help his or her village, community or area to a large extent, the country. It is time we all as citizens of our beloved country, Ghana, revisited and brought back the voluntary spirit that our leaders of old started with and that will help us build our communities and districts”, Mr Agyekum stated.
Mr Agyekum made the remarks when he inspected the Mangoase Community Clinic near Akosombo in the Asuogyaman District.
The facility, which had been completed, was built by volunteers from 32 districts from the Eastern Region.
The volunteers included carpenters, masons, electricians and tilers among other artisans. The volunteers camped at Mangoase where the project was and spent six weeks to complete the project.
Voluntary spirit
The DCE said he was impressed by the voluntary spirit exhibited by the volunteers for the building of the edifice which would serve as a mini hospital for the community adding that “we need to applaud these young men for showing the way in volunteerism’’.
Mr Agyekum said what was more important was that the volunteers collaborated from 32 districts, stayed together and did the work devoid of partisan politics even though they all belonged to different political parties saying, “I want all of us to learn a lesson from this, that when it comes to issues of development, we should forget about the parties we belong to because we are all aiming at a common goal of development”.
He, therefore, appealed to National Democratic Congress (NDC) members at Asuogyaman to support the ruling party for the benefit of the area.
The Eastern Regional Director of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Mrs Mariam Mansa Minnah, congratulated the leadership of the volunteers and added that the NYA would ensure it implemented policies and programmes that would benefit the youth in the country.
The Asuogyaman District Director of the NYA, Ms Akilu Luyusa Mohammed Zabado, said as part of the NYA policy, there were 19 priority areas for youth development and her district chose promotion of youth in volunteerism, nationalism and patriotism which was being implemented in Asuogyaman by the 32 youth leaders from all over the Eastern Region who offered their skills to support the community project at Mangoase free of charge.
She said the communal and voluntary spirit had come back through the NYA, and she would ensure the youth were sensitised and encouraged to revive it.
Appreciation
She thanked the chief of Mangoase for donating the land, the Asuogyaman District Assembly for the financial support and above all the volunteers for their time and energy for the edifice and their demonstration of giving back to the society.
The leader of the volunteers, Mr Christian Opoku Acheampong, said “we have now understood what is meant by volunteerism”.
He said they had also learnt a lot from each other for the number of weeks that they stayed together in the voluntary camp and they were also going to replicate those skills they learnt at the camp in their various districts in the region.