President John D. Mahama has revealed soon Ghana’s youth will undertake military training as part of their national service after tertiary education.

He said this delivering his 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Thursday, February 27, 2025.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces said the unprecedented move was aimed at keeping the youth fit and disciplined.

“We will introduce short military training as part of our national service scheme. This will instill a sense of fitness, and discipline into our youth,” he said.

He added, “To achieve a legally robust regime to govern national service, I’ve also tasked the Minister for Youth Development & Empowerment to coordinate and present to Parliament a Legislative Instrument to support the implementation of the newly-passed National Service Authority Act 2024, that’s Act 1119.”

The National Service Scheme (NSS) became the National Service Authority (NSA) under immediate former President Nana Akufo-Addo.

When this materialised, he remarked, "The transformation of the National Service Scheme into a fully-fledged Authority under Act 1119 will enable it to take on a more expansive role in nation-building. The NSA will now have the mandate to mobilise, deploy personnel and equip them with employable skills for future success.”

George Opare-Addo is the Minister for Youth Development & Empowerment.