The wife of the Asantehene, Lady Julia Osei Tutu, has urged the youth to desist from premarital sex and focus on the acquisition of education and skill training.

She said education and skill training was the surest way the youth could become economically empowered so they would not look for support or depend on anybody. Lady Julia reiterated that indulging in early sex also exposed the youth to sexually transmitted disease and teenage pregnancy with their attendant consequences. She cautioned the youth, particularly girls, not to allow their peers and societal pressure to push them to embrace social vices.

Mentoring youth

Lady Julia was speaking at a durbar aimed at mentoring the youth of Agogo and its surrounding communities in the Asante Akim North District in the Ashanti Region. The durbar was also attended by the chiefs and people of Agogo.

The one-day event was put together by the Otumfuo Charity Foundation, in collaboration with the Agogo traditional council and the Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial Development Initiative for Employment (YIEDIE). YIEDIE, which is a local non-governmental organisation which seeks to create economic opportunities in Ghana’s construction sector for economically disadvantaged youth so that they can fend for themselves.

Collaboration

The Manhyia Palace, through the Otumfuo Charity Foundation, had since 2016 collaborated with YIEDIE and other partners to train hundreds of out of school youth to become economically empowered so they could support the nation’s development. As a result of the collaboration many young people in the Ashanti Region have benefited from the acquisition of skills and tools provided by the project to start their own businesses.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the project, who are between the ages of 17 to 24 years, will either go through a six-week entrepreneurship and financial training programme or a three to six months apprenticeship-based skills training in 16 trade areas.

The 16 trade models available to the beneficiaries include masonry, plaster of Paris (POP) design, tilling, plumbing, metal fabrication, carpentry, filling station canopy fabrication, machines operation, draftsmanship, electrical works, painting, fiberglass and aluminium fabrication, survey technical assistance, interior décor, road signal installation and steel bending.

Support youth

Lady Julia pledged the Manhyia Palace’s readiness to do more to support the development of the region and the entire country. She urged parents and family relations to support the youth as they continued to pursue skill training as well as their education since it was the surest way to position themselves to meet the requirement of the job market. Lady Julia presented a wheel chair and other medical supplies to the Presbyterian Hospital at Agogo to enhance quality healthcare delivery in the area.

The Queenmother of Agogo, Nana Afrakomaah Kusi, lauded the Manhyia Palace for the support to bring skills training to the youth of the area. She was, however, not happy with the high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the entire district and called for help to fight the canker which, she said, was gradually becoming an albatross on the neck of the people.