By Stanley Senya, GNA
Accra, Nov. 10, GNA – Comrade Steven Nhyira Odarteifio, Head of Food Systems, World Food Programme, has filed his nomination to contest the position of National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), pledging to reposition the Youth Wing for economic empowerment.
He submitted his nomination forms at the party’s national headquarters at Adabraka in Accra, outlining a campaign focused on job creation, economic opportunities, leadership development and youth participation.
He said his decision to contest was partly informed by recurring political transitions between the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which, in his view, reflected the failure to build sustained political support among younger generations.
“Over the past 30 years, all of us have been tired of the baton changes between the NDC and the NPP. Eight years in, eight years out,” he said.
He said the party needed a more effective youth leadership structure capable of connecting with the aspirations of young people and building a generation of committed supporters.
Drawing lessons from the development of some Asian economies, he said policy continuity and sustained political leadership were important to long-term economic transformation.
“My office shall reshape the entire Youth Wing of our party to ensure that our young people, through the Youth Wing, are empowered to be a blessing to every young person in this country,” he said.
He expressed the ambition of securing a 20-year period of NDC governance, arguing that an economically empowered and nationally relevant Youth Wing could strengthen the party’s electoral fortunes.
He proposed repositioning the Youth Wing beyond political mobilisation to facilitate young people’s access to jobs, finance, technical skills, entrepreneurship and markets.
He said the organisation could connect young people to government initiatives, including the Adwumawura Programme, the National Apprenticeship Programme and the One Million Coders Programme.
Mr Odarteifio said the Youth Wing could also help develop opportunities in agriculture, technology, skills training and enterprise to address youth employment challenges.
He brings experience in international finance, public policy, agribusiness and development programming, and previously worked as a research analyst at Goldman Sachs.
He currently serves as Head of Food Systems at the World Food Programme (WFP) Ghana, where he coordinates about US$40 million in donor funding aimed at strengthening food and nutrition security.
His previous engagements at the Ministry of Finance and the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) included work on the operationalisation of 50,000 acres of agricultural land under the Ghana CARES Agricultural Programme, securing US$6.1 million from the Mastercard Foundation and helping mobilise US$80 million for agricultural infrastructure in three regions.
A graduate of Ashesi University with a background in Computer Science, Mr Odarteifio said his more than a decade of professional experience across investment banking, consulting, agribusiness, agricultural finance and food systems would inform his leadership approach.
He also paid tribute to President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC’s founding leaders, pledging to build a Youth Wing guided by the values of being empathetic, ethical and entrepreneurial.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei