In a recent statement made during the NPP delegates’ congress on November 4, 2023, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia received criticism from the Coalition of NABCO Trainees (CONAT).
The Vice President had stated that he wanted to govern a country that “offers good jobs with good pay and improves and unleashes the talents of our youths.”
However, CONAT responded with harsh criticism, calling the Vice President’s remarks “unpatriotic” and calling him a “monumental failure” when it comes to policies meant to combat poverty and youth unemployment.
The Patron of CONAT, Nana Barimah Asamoah, said, “We are utterly amazed at the courage of the Vice President that continually warrants such promises after he had made the lives of the youth miserable with NABCO and other sloganeering policies.”
In a press release, CONAT detailed the complaints of the NABCO Trainees, mentioning problems like trainee layoffs without payment of nine months’ arrears and the unfulfilled guarantee of permanent employment following the contract’s expiration.
The association accuses Vice President Bawumia of vicariously liable for the purported missteps, citing his appointment of Dr. Ibrahim Anyars, his first employee and son, as CEO and the start of the NABCO scheme while in his office.
“The Vice President’s office initiated this experimental NABCO scheme woefully in a manner that saw the appointment of his first son/staffer Dr. Ibrahim Anyars as CEO, who ran the scheme into a ditch ruining the lives of these vulnerable youth,” Asamoah asserted.
The alliance threatened a “showdown” in the general elections of 2024 and announced the imminent formation of the “Unemployed Youth Alliance” in opposition to Vice President Bawumia’s presidential aspirations.
“The coalition of NABCO Trainees admonish the Vice President to stay off these pitiful partisan narrow promises and make a U-turn to correct the mess he has caused with his ‘wacky flagship initiatives’ as a showdown awaits him come 2024,” the release added.
