Steven Nhyira Odarteifio has officially declared his intention to contest for the position of National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He made the declaration at a press conference held at the Ghana International Press Centre on Monday, September 14, 2026.
Addressing the media, Mr Odarteifio said there was a burden on his conscience for the millions of young men and women of Ghana who placed their hopes, expectations and confidence in President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress. He said they voted because they believed, and still believe, in a Ghana of opportunity, dignity and possibility, where a person's name does not have to be popular before their ideas can matter.
He acknowledged that important opportunities were already being created through programmes such as Adwumawura, the National Apprenticeship Programme and One Million Coders.
He, however, stressed that programmes alone do not change lives, noting that people must know about them, be able to reach them and be organised around them. He said this was why a new dawn of youth leadership must emerge, one prepared to multiply, amplify and accelerate access to the opportunities the government is creating.
Mr Odarteifio said the youth wing must be mobilised not only for political power but for economic freedom, reaching beyond those who already carry an NDC card to the millions of young Ghanaians asking what the party of Jerry John Rawlings, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama can mean for their lives.
He said three values had guided him for most of his life: empathy, to make another person's struggle your struggle; innovation, to find a practical solution; and persistence, to keep pushing until something changes. He recounted that as a teenager, this spirit pushed him to mobilise others around vulnerable children, and at about twenty, it drove him to help transform a struggling public school. He said the same instinct later led him into larger interventions in agriculture, enterprise and youth development, work that has helped create opportunities and improve livelihoods for more than 100,000 young people across the country.
He cited supporting agricultural economic enclaves, deploying thousands of pieces of agricultural equipment, helping hundreds of young local artisans manufacture agricultural machinery in Ghana, improving opportunities for women processors and young farmers, and strengthening agricultural education across tertiary institutions. He said when he speaks about youth empowerment, he is not speaking from a textbook, and when he speaks about jobs and opportunity, he is not assuring people for the sake of it. He said he has seen the problems, built solutions and persisted.
Mr Odarteifio said the leadership he brings can inspire and empower the youth wing to help economically impact a million more young people before the end of the Mahama administration. He said it can connect young people to capital, skills, enterprise, agriculture, technology and markets, mobilise support for productive agricultural enclaves and unlock tens of thousands of opportunities.
He said he does not want a youth wing that only knows how to mobilise young people for elections, but one that knows how to mobilise opportunity between elections. He said he wants a youth wing that does not merely help the NDC acquire political power, but one that helps convert political power into economic opportunity. He stated that if the youth are empowered, every Ghanaian will be convinced to keep voting for the NDC, securing twenty years of consecutive power for the party.
He said the country stands at a crossroads where it must decide whether leadership will be determined by the depth of a person's ideas or the depth of a person's pockets, whether an unfamiliar name must remain at the back simply because it is unfamiliar, and whether a young person must first become wealthy, connected and politically famous before their ideas are heard. He said he does not believe that can be the future of the NDC or of Ghanaian politics.
He drew inspiration from historical figures, including Yaa Asantewaa, who summoned a people to courage and led resistance; Kwame Nkrumah, who returned to the Gold Coast, organised, mobilised and inspired a movement of young people and led a nation to independence; and Jerry John Rawlings, who emerged from the lower ranks of the Ghana Air Force to shape an entire political generation.
Mr Odarteifio said he was announcing his candidature with humility before God, gratitude to those who had counselled and encouraged him, respect for everyone who had served the party before him, and an unshakeable faith in the young people of Ghana.
He addressed young comrades who feel unseen, foot soldiers who feel forgotten, unemployed graduates, struggling entrepreneurs, and branch and constituency organisers wondering whether years of sacrifice will ever become opportunity. He said the campaign should say to them that their future cannot be chained to somebody else's definition of when they are ready, and that their readiness must be judged by their ideas, service, character, impact and ability to deliver.
He said that so long as inequality and neglect persist, the culture of "something small for boys" will persist. He said that was why he was contesting, to help support the President and the government's mission to create opportunities that give young people economic dignity, so that the next TEIN leader, branch organiser or youth activist does not have to buy their way into being heard.
He said he wanted his unlikely presence to prove that a young person with a message, a track record, a little resource and a community of believers can still organise, rise and lead. He said the National Democratic Congress must lead that new wave, describing it as the party Jerry Rawlings founded and the party President Mills and President Mahama envision.
He urged young Ghanaians to believe that their dreams are not too big and their names are not too small. He said he sees them, believes in them and believes in what they can become, adding that it is their moment and their time to rise.
