Head of the Department of History of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Kwame Osei Kwarteng, is advocating that various political parties get formal institutions to train young politicians.
According to him, the institute will help to upgrade and shape the thinking of young politicians to take over from the veteran politicians who are gradually fading out from the system.
“It’s not right for Ghana as a country that we don’t have a formal institute to train young politicians to take over from the old age politicians as a succession plan” Prof. Kwarteng said.
“The time has come for the political parties to establish institutions to train their youth in the parties to champion the party’s ideas and philosophy” he stressed.
The historian was speaking on Monday on Adom FM’s current affairs programme “Burning Issues” hosted by Afia Pokua.
His comment follows the death of former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, who died on Sunday at a hospital in London after a short illness.
Some experts have intimated that the NPP should have allowed some young party to under study Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey before his untimely demise.
Prof. Kwarteng said as a matter of urgency, the various political parties must get a formal institution to train the youth about the party’s ideologies and beliefs to take up the mantle in the future.
In 2014, the General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia announced the ruling party’s intention to set up a school to train members of its student wing and cadres to, among other objectives, fill leadership positions within its ranks but it hasn’t been materialize yet.
Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah established an institution called Ideological Institute – or the Kwame Nkrumah Institute of Economics and Political Science (or Winneba Ideological Institute) – to promote socialism in Ghana as well as the liberation of Africa from colonialism.
Prof. Kwarteng believes Nkrumah’s initiative must be emulated.
