A youth group calling itself Bongo Youth Parliament has been inaugurated in Bongo of the Upper East Region with a call on the youth in the area to cultivate the habit of oneness and desist from drug abuse.
The mandate as youth parliament is to foster a sustainable relation between the youth groups and governance structures in the Bongo District.
The objective is to build youth participation in the decision making and influence the developmental outcomes most especially, those that affect youth development directly. The Youth Parliament is divided into three, which include the speaker’s directory, caucus leaders and directory of parliamentary services.
The Bongo Youth Parliament has 55 majority members and 45 minority members.
Addressing Members of the house, the Speaker of Bongo Youth Parliament, Edward Abesiwine Asekere, urged them to study their standing orders and research on any motion that will be tabled for debate in the future. This, he noted, will certainly inform them to make informed and thought provoking contributions.
Mr. Asekere said the Youth Parliament is poised to address youth participation in governance processes especially at the district level. He noted that it is targeted to get the youth of this country of theirs into direct, open and conversation with duty bearers.
According to him, several researches conducted including FOSDA in 2014 and Afro barometer survey released on International Youth Day, August 12, 2016 all revealed that there is lack of suitable platforms for productive engagement between the youth and duty bearers.
He said this and many including an Act of Parliament of Ghana, Act 939 mandates the establishment of Youth Parliaments in tertiary institutions, district/municipal/metropolitan assemblies, regional and national levels.
He said Bongo Youth Parliament will direct their energies on discussing or debating on critical issues that affect the youth directly and persuade duty bearers to respond to development issues and make commitments to resolve them just as they do in Ghana’s Parliament.
Mr. Asekere bemoaned the high level drug abuse, falling standards of education especially at the basic level, teenage pregnancy, open defecation, indiscriminate spinning during traditional funerals in the area. This, according to him, affects the growth of the youth in the area. He assured the people in the area particularly the youth his resolve to tackle these problems head-on.
Mr. Asekere revealed that the Youth parliament seeks to achieve increased access to information in order to effectively demand accountability and responsiveness from authorities.
He said his outfit will achieve this adopting a friendly approach to capacitate young females and persons living with disabilities to promote equal and active participation in the governance processes in Bongo District.
Mr. Asekere reechoed the need for parliament to pass the Right to Information Bill. He emphasized that the Bongo Youth Parliament will take into consideration any constructive criticisms from the public at all times.
The inaugural ceremony brought together people from all walks of life including former Upper East Regional Minister, Albert Abongo, who is also former MP for Bongo Constituency, Former Executive Secretary of Labour Commission, Lawyer Charles Bawa, NPP Upper East Regional Secretary, Cletus Ayambire, MP for Bongo Constituency, Edward Bawa and MP for Bolgatanga Central Constituency, Isaac Adongo.
Story by GBC’s Samuel Ayammah.