The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has congratulated the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for nominating Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as running mate of John Dramani Mahama complete their presidential ticket for the 2020 general elections.
However, the party says the nomination of the former Minister of Education will not add any value to the presidential ticket of the umbrella family since the choice of Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is a clear indication that the NDC has a problem.
Addressing journalists in Accra on Monday, July 6, 2020, to comment on the nomination of the NDC running mate, the Director of Communications of the NPP, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, said “the choice of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang by Mr. John Dramani is a clear indication that he does not take the Ghanaian electorate seriously. It is our view that after having looked so long and wide, the NDC still has a problem”.
Buttressing the party’s stance on the nomination of the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Yaw Buabeng Asamoah highlighted a twelve-point case scenario to indicate that the choice of Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang was not the best for the NDC and Ghana as a whole.
Madam Opoku-Agyemang, the NPP noted, superintended over a supposed Progressively Free SHS where students were made to pay GH₵1,500 to GH₵1,700 per student in some schools. Further to that, monies budgeted for and approved by Parliament to be paid on behalf of students as day students were never paid till date under her watch.
Below is the twelve-point case scenario the NPP believes the choice of Madam Opoku-Agyemang is not the best:
- Teachers were paid three months’ arrears for three years of work, sometimes more than that and sometimes less than that.
- Yearly incremental jump in salary scales of Teachers was wickedly cancelled.
- Allowance for Trainee Teachers was cancelled at a time they were paying only 9000 beneficiaries claiming it was huge on government’s purse. Today, we have reintroduced the teacher training allowances and we are paying around 46,000 students.
- Research and Book allowances of our hard working Lecturers were cancelled. Today we have reintroduced Book and research allowance and government has also put together a stand-alone bill to dedicate enough resources for the fund.
- There were no Teaching and Learning Materials in our schools, Ghanaians were insulted even when they asked for common chalk.
- She was by the side of Mr. John Mahama when he promised to build 200 Community Day SHSs and it turned out to be a “suuliya” promise.
- She was again by the side of Mr. John Mahama when they failed to deliver on their promise of building 10 Colleges of Education.
- It was during her reign as Minister for Education that Teachers were always harassed by B.N.I. Officials.
- She presided over the freezing of employment in the Education Sector. And the heightened corrupt practices at the N.S.S. Secretariat. Remember the Secretariat is under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education.
- She has, recently, advised John Mahama to cancel the Licensure Examination for Teachers when, God forbid, they come to power. Any rational person wouldn’t do that because professionalism is anchored on licensing.
- During her tenure as the Minister for Education, the funding for the Progressively Free S.H.S., School Feeding Program, Capitation Grant—-were all in arrears.
- She presided over the near collapse of the scholarships Secretariat. Students on Foreign Scholarships were always complaining because their fees and other allowances were always in arrears. All these anomalies have since been corrected by the N.P.P.
