2024 budget must bring the much-needed relief to the teeming youth – Dr Kwesie

Dr Patrick Ekye Kwesie, Leader of Western Nzema Youth League, has appealed to the government to ensure that its Budget Statement and Economic Policy for 2024 addresses the numerous challenges facing the youth of the country.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Takoradi on expectations ahead of the 2024 budget presentation, he said the government must prioritize interventions that would improve the overall well-being and bring the much-needed relief to the teeming youth.

He said: “Talking about the youth of this country, we have had high expectations from the government’s budget every year, and this year is no exception.

“With the rising unemployment, mounting educational expenses and the need for better healthcare facilities, we the youth are expecting the budget to provide solutions to our pressing problems.”

In discussing some of the major expectations, Dr Kwesie indicated that employment opportunities were one of the biggest concerns of the youth, and that the budget must allocate substantial resources to create job opportunities for all.

“I believe that to accomplish this, the government should focus on developing the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector, which is the primary source of employment in rural and semi-urban areas,” he added.

Additionally, he suggested that there should be incentives provided to private companies to set up manufacturing companies, which would help generate more employment opportunities for the youth.

Dr Kwesie also asked the government to focus on allocating resources to growth and employment-generating sectors to protect the workforce lay-offs in the private sector.

On education, he bemoaned the high cost of higher-level education, and called on the government to ensure 2024 budget included measures to reduce the financial burden of higher education.

He noted that the budget should prioritize creating an enabling environment for education by focusing on the sector’s digital transformation.

“While the primary goal of the government is to ensure everyone has access to education, it suffers from lack of infrastructure, especially in the digital space, in rural and semi-urban areas, so we believe that there should be dedicated funds to assist educational institutions in building and scaling digital infrastructure to become hybrid learning centres”, the Western Nzema Youth League Leader suggested.

Touching on health, he said the government should increase funding for public health infrastructure and services in the upcoming budget.

This, Dr Kwesie added, would ensure that quality healthcare was accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial status.

He noted that: “Apart from these, the youth also look forward to hearing some major announcements around agricultural systems, climate change and cryptocurrency”.

He explained that young people in the country expect the government to take steps to ensure that everyone had equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances.