The African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) is encouraging the participation of young people in the government processes of the country’s natural resources.
By this, the youth will take an active interest in the use of revenue from natural resources and influence financial decisions.
The Centre is rolling out the establishment of a campus-based Resource Governance Campus Hub.
The KNUST branch will be second to the first hub established at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani.
Policy Lead for Petroleum and Conventional Energy at ACEP, Kodzo Yaotse, explains the initiative is a boost toward ensuring good resource governance.
“The main essence is to ensure that we have a crop of active citizens that are concerned about what is happening within their space, that know the type of information they need to have to effect the change they want to see,” he said.
Over the years, there have been complaints about the productive use of the nation’s resources.
Since 2011, about eleven billion dollars from oil revenue have been invested in the country’s economy.
Though some infrastructure projects are financed by the revenue, many continue to question the judicious use of the resource.
According to ACEP, it is about time all individuals got involved in the demand for accountability.
Mr. Yaotse emphasized, “it is not enough to sit at home and lament about how the resources the state has are not translating in development. We are trying to urge the students to take a more active part.”
At the launch of the group, some of the club members showed interest in demanding accountability.
According to ACEP, these activists will be trained to have the right skill sets to contribute to decision-making in the extractive sector.
“We get a certain indication that there is more work to be done on tooling the young people with the right skill sets and information to be able to take charge and exit the sense of helplessness in the phase of government force,” Mr. Yaotse added.
Debates of national policies, including resource governance, have often degenerated into politicization.
As a means of depoliticization, the African Centre for Energy Policy is hoping to train more young people for the purpose.
Senior Policy Analyst and Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Maybel Acquaye noted, “If we really want to forge forward as a country we need to steer away from political debate to a more informed discourse where the conversation is not centered among a few elites at the top but brought down to the youth and the next generation.”
She concluded, “We will have students write opinion pieces on a lot of things they see within their communities, getting their voices out there. Students will be tasked to create their own initiatives on how to bring transformation to their communities. Imbibe in them a sense of responsibility.”
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