Political Activist, Abdul Salam has recently commented on the issue of power-hungry young people in society, condemning them for their unpleasant attitudes.
He made the comments on Campus Exclusive following the recent issue of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Student Representative Council (SRC) President Frank Owusu refusing to handover power to the newly elected administration.
He claimed that this was due to the influence of a power-drunk older generation. Abdul Salam complained that this has led to the misconception that young people as unfit to take up positions of power.
“When it comes to we young people, many people will say that we’re not ready to take power; they attribute it to some behaviors of a minority of us. It is not the generality of the youth. It is some people who are power hungry and the unfortunate thing is that these people have learnt from the older generation.”
According to the KNUST constitution, once the election results have been announced, the President of KNUST SRC obligated to transfer authority within six weeks; the current administration has however failed to abide by the directive to handover to the new administration in the given time frame.
However, after one Rosemond Anderson filed an application at the KNUST SRC Judiacial Board on September 11, 2023 in response to the delay of the transfer of authority by the Frank Owusu administration, it was ultimately decided that the handover would take place on September 15th, 2023.
Abdul Salam, highlighted that if young people had better examples of leadership and the rules were enforced properly, the issues that have recently plagued student leadership would not exist.
“ If we have good examples to learn from and if the rules worked, if the laws that we put together ourselves to govern the conduct of our own behaviors were being respected….I’m not sure these things will happen.”
Still on the matter of power-drunk youth leaders, the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) recently issued a press release on September 8, 2020 causing a stir alleging that its President, Dr. Christian Ntsiful Anderson has been involved in financial improprieties including the unlawful collection of funds, unauthorized disbursement of funds and other offenses. This news highlighted the issue of student leaders being corrupt and raised questions about the accountability of those in positions of power.
Abdul Salam, described the incidence as “unfortunate”, further expressing his sadness at the current state of student leadership. He added that despite the challenges facing young people today, he believes that many of them are still ready and willing to do what is right in leadership roles.
“Majority of the young people are ready and are competent enough to do what is right and to ensure that this country works for the better. But if you look at student leadership, it is a story sight to behold.”
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Story by : Henrietta Owusua | univers.ug.edu.gh
