IS THE NATIONAL SERVICE SCHEME DRIFTING OFF COURSE? (NOV 3)

THE beginning of every national service year witnesses a frenzy of activity at the National Service Secretariat.
The reason being that postings are taking place and parents and prospective national service persons apply all the tricks up their sleeves and pull all the strings available to them to get postings to areas that will make them comfortable or to avoid areas that have become more or less like prison camps.
The exercise of making postings is not something anyone should envy as every officer, from the Executive Director to the district directors come under severe pressure to satisfy ministers, board members, neighbours, friends, relatives, church members and of course party bigwigs whose big eyes and long arms are always watching and pulling strings in the whole process.
The question is, why should national service postings become such a huge burden for the managers of the scheme? On the other hand, why should national service postings to certain parts of the country or to certain institutions be seen as wicked and callous acts on the part of the managers?
In trying to answer these questions, we need to trace the origins of the scheme which was introduced by the National Redemption Council (NRC) under General Ignatus Kutu Acheampong. This was backed the National Service Scheme Decree, (NRCD 208) of 1973. This was later repealed and replaced by the Ghana National Service Scheme Act (Act 426) of 1980, which was enacted by Parliament under the Third Republican Constitution.
The principles and objectives of the service, however, remain the same. Right from its inception, the scheme has as its core objectives, been encouraging the spirit of national service among the youth in the effort of nation-building; to undertake projects designed to combat hunger, illiteracy, disease and unemployment; help provide essential services and amenities particularly in towns and villages of the rural areas; to develop skilled manpower through practical training; and to promote national unity and strengthen the bonds of common citizenship among Ghanaians.
Initially, the law made it compulsory for students of the three state universities, namely the University of Ghana, Legon; the University of Science and Technology (UST), Kumasi, now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to do one-year national service after graduation.
The duration of the service persons changed to two years after disturbances in the country’s universities in 1983 forced the authorities to close them down for nearly one academic year. Since there were no fresh admissions in 1984 when the universities were re-opened, Sixth Formers were also drafted into the national service scheme. This was a tactical move to clear the backlog of sixth form students who were stranded because they could not enter the universities.
The number of service personnel has swelled up over the years as a result of the addition of graduates of other tertiary institutions including the new state universities, the polytechnics and the numerous private universities that are springing up everyday. This year for example, the scheme is deploying 60,700 service personnel throughout the country.
With the passage of time, the scheme started to make a gradual shift from its core objectives stated earlier to become more or less an employment avenue for the thousands of youth who graduate each year from the country’s tertiary institutions. The scheme, it is becoming clearer by the day, is no longer a call to national duty, but an opportunity to make money and possibly gain employment after the service period. That is why there is that mad scramble for juicy places in the towns and cities where national service duties are least needed, as against the rural communities and other depraved sectors of national development which are drained of human resources.
The scheme, if we are to go back to its core objectives, exists to mobilise and deploy young people of 18 years and above on national priority development programmes that contribute to improving the quality of life of the ordinary Ghanaian. How do we attain this national goal, if service personnel are deployed in offices in Accra and other big towns where they do very little during their service period?
Another important aspect of the objectives was the promotion of national unity and strengthening the bonds of common citizenship among Ghanaians. How do we achieve this noble objective of national integration if Ghanaians are not prepared to do national service in certain parts of the country?
In a press statement to mark this year’s national service postings, the Executive Secretary, Mr Vincent Senam Kuagbenu, reiterated that, “The development issues which ignited the spontaneous response of students and the general public to readily accept the concept of national service four decades ago and availed themselves to offer service to the nation are still very relevant”.
Mr Kuagbenu stirred the hornet’s nest recently when he declared that newly-trained medical officers are also to do national service as demanded under the Ghana National Service Scheme Act. This was apparently to address the deficiency in health personnel, especially nurses and doctors in most of the country’s health facilities in the rural areas.
The Executive Secretary of the National Service Scheme was only stating the obvious as prescribed by law but which has been ignored over the years, and many were those who were quick to raise issues with his position.
Life in the rural areas is not only stagnant but very repulsive because of the harsh conditions there. Many of their schools lack qualified and good teachers. Many of their medical facilities are without the full complement of staff.
There are a lot of classrooms, clinics and other social infrastructure which need to be constructed. These need not necessarily be put to tender and create room for corruption, delays and shoddy work. Communities in the rural areas are ready and prepared to do anything to improve their lives if only the government will give them a slight push. They will welcome the supply of building materials and the presence of national service personnel and with local artisans in abundance; build their own classroom blocks, clinics, community centres and many. They can even build their own small irrigation canals for their farms with the support of national service personnel. The Dawhenya Irrigation Project which was executed by students when Colonel George Bernasko was in charge of agriculture proves that point.
If the dream of the originators of the national service scheme about four decades were allowed to crystallise, a lot of our rural communities would have been transformed with better infrastructure including classrooms, clinics, water systems, recreational facilities and many more. Then the national service would have served its purpose of inculcating the spirit of nationalism and patriotism in the youth; it would have garnered the skills and energies of the youth into national development and by settling among the people, working with them, sharing in their communal life and by mixing with the youth from other parts of the country, the target of national integration would have been in sight if not achieved already.
The recent outcry over the national service postings only goes to illustrate how the scheme has been prostituted over the years to become a mere employment agency with very little touch of national service.
How do people do national service working in the banks and hotels in Accra and other big towns? What is national about those services? So if we allow some Ghanaians to work in glittering offices in Accra and the big towns, how do we justify the posting of other Ghanaians to rural communities to work under harsh conditions when at the end of the day, the national service certificate will be the same for the two categories of service personnel?
We are all guilty for the various roles we played in steering the scheme off its original course. Those to take the biggest blame are those powerful men and women in government and other high places who do not want their children to leave the comfort of their homes to do national service where their services are crucially needed.
Many Americans, Europeans and Japanese have left their relatively far better conditions in their countries to come here and serve our people in their poor communities. Why do we have many excuses for not rendering national service where it is needed most?
This year, a bold attempt was made to come close to what the scheme was originally meant to be, for which the Executive Director needs to be commended even though this was met with the chagrin of some people. An attempt to introduce military training into the scheme in the past was met with resistance, even though, today, as we battle with the menace of armed robbery many Ghanaians would wish that they were in a position to defend themselves when they come under attack from these miscreants.
The national service scheme is a noble one and many countries have used it not only for nation building but also for social integration. Our national service scheme can also achieve the desired effects if we can go back to its core objectives which are as relevant today as they were yesterday.
The scheme must, therefore, discourage posting service personnel to the cities and big towns and concentrate on rural development. That also means the scheme must aim at becoming an autonomous institution that could camp its personnel at specific project sites so that service personnel do not use lack of accommodation and other logistics to avoid serving their nation.
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