Ambassador Smith calls for compulsory military training to engage Ghana’s youth

Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Smith, has proposed compulsory military training for young people as part of efforts to promote discipline and address what he describes as growing indiscipline in the country. Speaking in an interview on JoyNews, Mr Smith suggested that young people leaving school should undergo military training for up to two years to instil discipline and keep them productively engaged. “Why don't we let the young people who come out of school do two years or so in military training? Just to sort of, if you like, put some discipline in people,” he said. The Ambassador argued that keeping young people engaged in structured activities could help address idleness, which he associated with corruption and other social problems. “The devil finds work for idle hands. So we put them in the military training; they're not idle anymore,” he said. He suggested that participants could be deployed to agricultural activities, including mass production, as part of the proposed programme.