Trainees of the now-defunct Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) have expressed readiness to thwart any attempt by the government to exploit the NABCO programme for political gains, especially ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Despite their efforts, the trainees claim that all attempts to prompt the government to fulfill its payment obligations of the nine-month arrears owed to them have been unsuccessful.

In an interview with Citi News, the National Spokesperson of the former NABCO Trainees Association, Eric Takyi, said, “For now, I think we have done enough because we have staged demonstrations. We have submitted an official petition to the office of the NABCO Secretariat. We have also submitted a petition to the Ministry of Finance, you know, the Office of the Vice President.

“So what we are going to do is that we are going to equalize every pain this government has subjected us to in 2024. We are going to intercept any comment or signage that attempts to capitalize on the NABCO for political votes ahead of the general elections.”

Expressing disappointment in the government’s failure to pay them, Eric Takyi stated, “We are very disappointed, honestly. We have worked for nine good months and have not been paid. You remember when the contractual year ended the government gave us an additional year contract that we should remain at post pending permanent arrangement. The letter was issued from the NABCO secretariat, and it was endorsed by the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.”

“We adhered strictly to the directives that the government gave, and we remained at the post, we worked assiduously, and after the additional year ended, we were asked to retrograde back to our unemployed state. Honestly, we were not paid. That was 2022. As I speak, that money still hasn’t been paid. It is nine-month arrears that the government has decided not to pay NABCO beneficiaries.”

The Akufo-Addo-led administration introduced NABCO in 2017 as part of measures to address graduate unemployment in the country.

The initiative was run under seven modules: Educate Ghana, Heal Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Digitize Ghana, Enterprise Ghana, and Civic Ghana.