Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, has refuted suggestions that the Kayayei training programme cannot continue due to theft of equipment at the agency’s hostel.

In a Facebook post on Friday, September 19, he maintained that the facilities remain available and could still be used for skills development initiatives.

Mr Ofosu Nkansah was responding to comments by the current NEIP boss, Eric Adjei, who revealed in an interview with Accra FM on Wednesday, September 17, that essential training equipment had been stolen from the hostel facility after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost the 2024 elections.

Mr Adjei said the theft, which included laptops, CCTV cameras and television sets, had disrupted ongoing programmes to support head porters, also known as Kayayei.

In his response, however, Mr Ofosu Nkansah insisted that despite the looting, the facilities were not rendered useless.

“Dear Eric Adjei, I don’t think if the Mahama administration wants to continue with the Kayayei training programme, they cannot because NDC foot soldiers took over the hostel on the night of Dec 7, 2024 and took away CCTV cameras, laptop and TV.

The hostel facilities are all still available and can be used for any form of training,” he wrote.

The former NEIP CEO’s remarks suggest that while some resources were lost, the infrastructure needed to run training sessions is intact and should not prevent the government from relaunching or continuing such programmes.

He emphasised that the facilities could support not only Kayayei training but also other forms of skills development for Ghanaian youth.