President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, Â has emphasized the need for the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) programme to be entirely scrapped or privatized to get the needed results.
His suggestion comes days after a payroll fraud believed to have cost the nation about 50 millions cedis was uncovered at the Agency.
Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, ‘The Big Issue‘ Mr. Cudjoe called for the “disbandment†of YEA and other employment agencies to serve the interest of the citizenry.
He believes these agencies would perform better if they are handed over to private entities.
Mr. Cudjoe maintained that government had no business managing these agencies, saying they are only set up to create an avenue for “siphoning of funds and recruiting party supporters, if this administration leaves office and another comes, we will still hear these things. Disband all these groups and move on."
Apart from YEA,  other agencies have also been hit with similar corruption scandals, prompting government to in some cases restructure the programmes to deal with the canker. One of such programmes was the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) which was later restructured to become YEA.
GYEEDA, which was a public initiative targeted at youth development failed to achieve its purpose as it was characterized by shady deals and corrupt activities.
Following reports of mismanagement of state funds, government in 2012 ordered for an investigation into activities of GYEEDA, and subsequently terminated the contracts with some of the companies.
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Credit: CitiFM