The National Service Scheme (NSS) has urged President Nana Akufo-Addo to sign the Ghana National Service Authority Bill 2024 into law.

At the policy launch on April 15, 2024, the NSS emphasised the necessity for granting autonomy to the secretariat.

Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, Executive Director of NSS, stressed the importance of fortifying and adequately resourcing the NSS to oversee personnel mobilisation and deployment.

He appealed to President Akufo-Addo to ratify the bill currently under consideration.

Mr Antwi highlighted that the new legislation would enable the authority to expand existing initiatives such as the NSS teaching model and NSS MSME accounting age.

This enhancement aims to establish the NSS scheme as a premier institution for deploying service personnel in the West African and African regions.

“The National Service Scheme, beyond this policy, must be strengthened, capacitated, and significantly resourced to regulate the mobilisation and deployment of personnel. I strongly believe that this can be done by upgrading the scheme from its status to a more noble and standardised institution”, Mr Antwi said.

In this regard, he added: “I wish to make a passionate appeal to the President that the Ghana National Service Authority Bill 2024, currently before Mr. President, will be approved. Mr. President, the new law will grant the authority the opportunity to expand existing programs such as the NSS teaching model and NSS MSME accounting age.”

President Akufo-Addo responded by urging stakeholders to rally behind the scheme in fulfilling its objectives.

He expressed confidence that the implementation of the new policy document would elevate the NSS's role in shaping Ghana's future and empowering its youth to realise their potential.

“These interventions will solidify the NSS scheme’s position as one of the best in the West African and African region for deploying service personnel. I urge stakeholders to support the scheme in achieving its objectives. Let us embrace the new changes, focus, and face of the NSS”, the president noted.

He said: “I’m confident that with the implementation of this new policy document, the NSS scheme will play an even more vital role in shaping the future of our nation and empowering our youth to fulfil their potential.”