The founding President of Africa�s fourth most influential policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, has described the modules under the GYEEDA programme as money siphoning conduits.
�These were vehicles to siphon money�, Mr Cudjoe said Saturday.
The Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA), was set up as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) as a stop gap measure to youth unemployment.
The Government of Ghana signed a number of contracts with various private firms who presented proposals about several employment modules that were incorporated into the programme.
It however emerged that most of the contracts were fraudulently entered without any work done.
The Government recently terminated most the contract it signed with Rlg Communication's training module and Asongtaba Cottage Industry & Exchange Programme (ACI&EP), subsidiaries of the AGAMS Group and the Better Ghana Management Services Limited, a subsidiary of Jospong Group, the parent company of Zoomlion.
Rlg Communications and ACI were recently directed to refund Ghc55 million to the state. The money was allegedly paid fraudulently.
A former National Coordinator of the programme, Abuga Pele and the CEO of Goodwill International Group, Philip Akpeena Assibit, are standing trial for 19 criminal charges including causing financial loss to the State to the tune of Ghc4.1 billion.
Mr Cudjoe believes the whole GYEEDA programme is a �charade�. He told Accra-based Citi FM that the Government appears to be treating Ghanaians as �toddlers� as far as the GYEEDA issue is concerned.
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