The Greater Accra Regional Coordinator of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo), Mohammed Baba is blaming trainees for the delay in the payment of their stipends. At a press briefing to outline activities for the first anniversary of the programme, he observed that the late submission of time sheet as well as the refusal to update their personal information on the portal are some of the causes of the delay. NaBCo trainees in August threatened to demonstrate over delayed allowances. The group petitioned government to release allowances of beneficiaries which they claimed had not been paid since November 2018. But the Greater Accra Regional Coordinator of NaBCo insists his outfit is not the cause of the delay. “Honestly the problem we are facing with arrears is not from NaBCo, it’s from the trainees, and to us you’re supposed to submit your time sheet by close of day 23rd of each month, some of them decide to wait till 28th, by then we would have finished with validation, it means that when you’re not validated you can never be paid and that is what is happening and they will never tell you the truth’’. Others complained their banks have been consolidated hence their inability to use their ezwich cards, but the officials advised them to go to other banks and get knew ezwich cards. Meanwhile, Mohammed Baba has denied claims that some trainees are not at post yet receive their monthly stipends. “It is not true. No training will be paid when you’re not working that is why we validate them at the end of the month. If it is so then the supervisor who endorsed your time sheet is conniving with you to do so but to as all those being paid are working.’’ The Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) programme was launched on May 1, 2018 by President Akufo-Addo to address graduate unemployment to solve social problems. According to Mohammed Baba, out of the 109,380 graduates selected as qualified, 31,809 are currently working in the Greater Accra region under seven modules. “On May 1 a portal was launched to receive applications, all 146,968 applications received were guaranteed interviews with over 137,000 of them attending at the 254 district centres, at the end of the process 109,380 were selected as qualified.’’ As part of activities for the regional celebrations, there would be an inter-zonal soccer gala at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, followed by a health screening on Saturday. The activities would be climaxed with a durbar at the Accra city hall of the AMA on Monday By Selorm Amenyah | 3news.com]]>