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A high-powered delegation from the National Service Authority (NSA) is expected to travel to The Gambia to finalise talks on a cooperation agreement that will see Ghanaian service persons with specialised skills being deployed in that country.
The delegation, to be led by the Director-General of the NSA, Osei Assibey Antwi, will engage their Gambian counterparts on how to address certain mutual manpower requirements.
The historic move is aimed at expanding the NSA’s frontiers by offering national service persons the needed international exposure.
Also being considered by the NSA are requests from Liberia, Sierra Leone and some neighbouring francophone countries.
"The development of personnel goes beyond a single institution and this requires strategic partnership and collaboration at local and international levels," Mr Osei Assibey Antwi said in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
Consequently, a World Bank support will be sought to cater for the financial element of the agreement.
Following the change in its nomenclature from a scheme to an authority, the NSA, in the performance of its functions, could enter into a contract or any other related transaction.
The bill to that effect was passed by Parliament and assented to by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on July 31, 2024.
The new status empowers the NSA to undertake a wide range of initiatives with the approval of its board in solving critical national issues.
Among the initiatives being introduced by the NSA Director-General is a six-month military training for interested persons.
The cost implications of hosting and offering the graduates first-class capacity-building are being considered.
Already in force is the NSA Teaching Programme (pedagogy), while emergency response, health aid and safety measures are also being rolled out.
Under its emergency response, Mr Antwi said the NSA would enter into agreements with the mandatory institutions to offer opportunities for on-call support in times of emergency.
"The objective will also seek to mobilise and deploy service persons readily capacitated to respond to national emergencies and other emerging issues," he said.
