Former National Coordinator of the defunct Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA), Abuga Pele has disclosed that he had initially rejected the offer to be appointed head of the youth agency.
Detailing events leading to his appointment as GYEEDA boss, the former lawmaker for Chiana-Paga indicated that the late former president, John Evans Atta Mills was impressed with him after he led the Local Organizing Committee to successfully organize the Africa Hockey Tournament.
The former president then decided to make him part of his government and instructed Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, who was then the Minister of Youth and Sports, to make him 3 offers from which he (Abuga Pele) would choose to be appointed head.
However, when Mr. Muntaka Mubarak invited him to his office and made him the offers, he declined taking any of them.
According to him, he felt he was well-versed and actively involved in sports to be made the substantive Youth and Sports Minister than Mr. Muntaka. He believes the decision to make him work in an agency under the ministry while the Minority Chief Whip was made head of the ministry was unfair to him hence, his decision to decline the offer initially.
“I was the chairman of LOC which organized the Africa Hockey Tournament. In fact at the end of the tournament, the late president, Prof. Mills was so impressed that he wrote a personal recommendation letter to me and the Egyptian federation gave me an award and African Federation gave me an Award too for organizing the best ever hockey tournament in Africa so after that, I think that the president felt he should continue to use my talent.
So I was there one day when Hon. Mintaka then the Minister for Youth and Sports invited me to the Ministry in the evening around 5. By then, they had closed so he was with the Deputy, invited me to the Deputy’s office and they had put 2 seats in front of the Minister’s desk and they sat on the visitor’s chairs and asked me to sit there. I was a bit taken aback. I was wondering what that whole drama was about but eventually I sat down. Then they said Prof. said they should offer me 3 options for me to work there as the head. They wanted me to either be National Youth Council Head, Winneba Sports College head or National Youth Employment Program head,” he narrated in an interview on Bolgatanga-based A1 Radio.
He continued, “So after a few seconds of deep thinking, I declined because I felt if they wanted to use me, they could have made me a minister because I was the spokesperson for sports all the period that I was in Parliament. So if they wanted to use me, the least they could do is to use me in the Sports Ministry. But to invite me to take a department under the ministry while you put somebody there who probably was not too actively involved in sports (was, to me, unfair). I’m not saying he doesn’t know anything in sports but I think that he was not actively participating in it. I was the key person. I found it a bit unfair so I declined”.
But Muntaka went down on his knees and pleaded with him to accept the offer, stating that the president had anticipated that he would turn down such an offer and instructed him to appeal to him to accept it.
Abuga Pele said he reluctantly accepted to be head of GYEEDA which was formerly known as the National Youth Employment Program (NYEP) after Muntaka suggested it to him.
“When I declined, Hon. Muntaka virtually went on his knees and said the president said he knew I would decline so he should appeal to me to accept it so I said ‘ok (but) I don’t know any of these areas of you’ve mentioned. I’ve never worked there. I don’t have any experience with them. Of course, I have been a sportsman and I have been actively involved in sports administration but I’m not aware of what’s going on there so it’s better I don’t take something that I don’t know anything about’.
He suggested that I take the National Youth Employment Program and I said ‘ok. Once you attempt to go on your knees and you said the president personally said you should appeal to me, I accept it’. So the following day, they announced my name. That’s how I got into GYEEDA,” he disclosed.
