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The high youth unemployment should not be seen as an economic and social issue anymore, but a security threat to the country’s very existence, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations has cautioned.

He said the unemployed youth uprising in North Africa and other parts of the world in recent times should serve as an indicator to how frustrated unemployed youth could unleash mayhem in an otherwise stable country.

Mr Baffour-Awuah expressed these when he swore in the board members of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) in Accra yesterday.

He said although the Ghana Living Standard Survey by the Ghana Statistical Service in recent times pegged the country’s unemployment rate at growing between five to 12 per cent annually, the figures were far below the realities on the ground.

“Moving through the country, no one needs to tell you that the country is faced with a challenging situation than those academic figures,” he said.

He said what was making the situation worse was the fact that most youth were under-employed since the work they do and the wage earned was not in tandem with their academic qualification.

Mr Baffour-Awuah said it was on these basis that the President has appointed competent personalities to the Board of YEA to steer and spearhead a crusade of creating employment for the youth.

Mr Baffour-Awuah said it was envisaged that about 60,000 jobs would be created within a month of the Board being sworn into office, adding that the confidence reposed in them was an indication that they have the ability to deliver.

Mr Samuel Awuku, the chairman of the Board thanked the President for the opportunity to serve, and gave the assurance that the Board would live to their expectations.

Mr Awuku said the foremost task of the current Board was to rebrand the YEA from its poor image and put it on the drive to be the engine of employment generation.

He promised that the task of creating employment and training the youth through various modules would be carried out with integrity and honesty devoid of any partisanship and discrimination.

The members of the Board are Justin Kodua Frimpong, CEO of YEA, Bright Wireko-Brobbey, deputy Minister, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, James Osei Quarshie, Minister’s nominee from the Ministry’s Human Resource and Administration and Nana Yaa Ansua from the private sector.

The rest were Eugene Narh Korletey, Chief Labour Officer, Victor Donkor, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Emmanuel Sin-NyetAsigri, National Youth Authority Coordinator and Dr Kwame Amoako Tuffuor, the Minister’s nominee from the private sector.