The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has confirmed that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate, will not repeal the National Service Scheme (NSS).
Dr. Bawumia announced his vision for the country in Accra on Wednesday, including proposals to make the service optional if elected president in the next general elections.
Oppong Nkrumah promised Ghanaian teenagers seeking work that they will not be turned down because they had not done national service.
“NSS will stay, he’s not saying he’s going to abolish NSS. He’s saying that if you get a job, and you are being denied that job because you haven’t done the mandatory national service, he’s going to take that clause out. If you get a job and the employer is willing to take that job, the employer is not compelled to say that because you haven’t done national service, he should not give you the job. It does mean that this training and learning and growing of culture is gone, it’s still there. You will not be denied a job because you haven’t done national service,” he said on Face to Face on Citi TV with Umaru Sanda Amadu.
The Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, says Bawumia’s proposal to make the one-year mandatory National Service optional will only create opportunities for bribery and corruption to flourish.
