Mr Stephen Ackah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Suaman in the Western Region has appealed to students not to allow their affiliated youth groups on campus to be manipulated by politicians who are pursuing their parochial agenda.
He said politicians took advantage of the youthful exuberance of students to achieve their political ambitions and later dump them.
Mr Ackah who is a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth and Sports was addressing a youth dialogue in Accra, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in partnership with Vision Care Network International, a non-governmental organisation.
The event, which was held on the theme: “Youth participation in governance – key to sustainable development,” was part of activities to mark the African Union Day, which was celebrated in Ghana on Wednesday with a public holiday.
He advised students’ bodies such as Tertiary Education Institutional Network and Tertiary Students Confederacy of the various political bodies to be cautious in dealing with politicians in order not to undermine their leadership front.
He also suggested to the youth to form Students’ Parliament to air their grievances and other concerns.
Mr Ackah said President John Evans Atta Mills was committed to actively involve the youth in the governance process.
He said the youth were vulnerable between the ages of 15 to 35 to both positive and negative influences.
The MP said the youth were bedevilled with limited employment and service opportunities which lured them into illegal activities like drug abuse and other criminal activities.
“The devil finds work for the idled hands,” he stressed.
Mr Ackah said one way of engaging the youth was to make them part of the policy decision process so that they could understand the development trends and contribute effectively in their implementation.
He said the youth should not be made to feel that their concerns were not important to national development.
He asked stakeholders to get a copy of the National Youth Policy launched by the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama to know the plans government have for them.
The General Secretary of Ghana Medical Association, Dr Sodzi Sodzi Tettey, who chaired the occasion described the event as productive and asked the youth to be involved in policy formulation to facilitate sustainable development.