Comrade Basiera Saankara, aspiring National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has unveiled an ambitious youth leadership development initiative, the John Mahama Young Leaders Fellowship (JM Fellows), during an engagement with party faithful and delegates at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale Campus, on Friday, October 30, 2026.
The proposed initiative, which will serve as the NDC Youth Leadership Training and Mentorship Programme, seeks to identify, train, mentor and deploy promising young NDC members into mainstream Party structures at the branch, constituency, regional and national levels.
The JM Fellows programme forms part of Saankara’s broader vision and package of policies he intends to champion when elected into office. His proposal seeks to strengthen youth participation, create structured leadership opportunities and build institutional capacity within the Party. It recognises that although the NDC has nurtured several young political talents over the years, many committed members lack clearly defined pathways into leadership and active service within the Party.
The initiative seeks to address this challenge by bridging the gap between leadership development and leadership deployment, ensuring that young people are not only trained but also given opportunities to serve.
Under the proposed framework, the programme will operate through regular intakes, with participants undergoing structured leadership training, mentorship and practical assignments. Fellows will establish personal development goals upon admission, which will be assessed at the end of the programme to measure their progress and readiness for leadership responsibilities.
Training will be facilitated by experienced party members, professionals and partner institutions, while participants will be tracked and supported into appropriate positions within the Party’s organisational structures.
A key feature of the proposal is its emphasis on practical opportunities rather than training for its own sake. The programme envisions a system in which every Fellow is assigned a role within the Party, ensuring that the knowledge and skills acquired translate into meaningful service and leadership experience.
“Every Fellow will be assigned a role within the Party, ensuring that training translates into service, growth and leadership,” the policy document states.
Beyond domestic political development, the JM Fellows initiative will also pursue international exposure through partnerships with similar fellowship programmes across Africa and beyond. These collaborations will provide opportunities for exchange programmes, international conferences and exposure to other democracies, political movements and institutions.
The policy also places considerable emphasis on ideological orientation. Through collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Social Democracy, popularly known as the NDC Party School, and other allied organisations, Fellows will be grounded in the Party’s history, ideology, values and social democratic principles.
The initiative further seeks to preserve and promote the transformational leadership values of President John Dramani Mahama, inspiring a new generation of young leaders committed to democratic governance, social justice and people-centred development.
According to the policy, the ultimate objective is to establish “a leadership pipeline the Party owns”, producing young leaders who are ideologically grounded, professionally equipped and exposed to leadership experiences across the continent and the wider world.
The proposal represents a shift from viewing youth empowerment primarily through the lens of political mobilisation and campaign participation to a more deliberate investment in leadership succession, institutional capacity and long-term party development.
Comrade Basiera Saankara formally declared his intention to contest for the position of National Youth Organizer of the NDC on August 22, 2026, at the NDC Upper West Regional Youth Wing and Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) Retreat held in Wa, under the theme “Sustaining the Gains: Empowering the Youth for the Future.”
The declaration, which was attended by party executives, youth leaders, TEIN representatives and other delegates, marked his entry into the national contest to succeed the outgoing National Youth Organizer, George Opare Addo.
In announcing his ambition, Saankara cited more than two decades of dedicated service to the NDC, describing his political journey as one defined by loyalty, grassroots mobilisation and commitment to the Party. He also pledged to build on the achievements of previous national youth leadership while working towards a more united, inclusive and resource-empowered youth wing.
Saankara’s political and leadership experience spans grassroots party organisation, youth mobilisation and local governance. He served as Deputy Constituency Organiser for Wa West from 2006 to 2009 before becoming Constituency Youth Organizer from 2009 to 2018.
He subsequently served as Deputy Upper West Regional Organiser between 2018 and 2022 and has been the substantive Upper West Regional Youth Organizer since 2022. Beyond his party responsibilities, he served as an elected Assembly Member of the Wa West District Assembly from 2010 to 2018, Presiding Member between 2011 and 2016, and District Chief Executive of Wa West from July to December 2016.
He also represented the region on the National Executive Committee of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) and has served as Regional Director of the Youth Employment Agency.
His experience across party structures and local governance forms a significant part of his credentials as he seeks to lead the NDC Youth Wing, with the JM Fellows initiative emerging as one of the key policy proposals underpinning his campaign.
Source: Purefmonlinegh.com || 2026
