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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and their flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama have come under serious pressure from the general public, especially the New Patriotic Party (NPP)to name their Vice Presidential candidate for elections 2020. The one term candidate, John Mahama failed to secure the party’s victory in 2016 but would be contesting in the 2020 general election. John Mahama was elected to be on the NDC’s ticket in February, 2019. This got people concerned about why it has taken him and the party, more than a year and half without announcing his running mate.
Many members of the NDC, some former appointees in the NDC’s last administration were shortlisted as potential running mate for candidate John Mahama. Notable among them were Alex Mould formerly of Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation(GNPC), Kwame Awuah Darko formerly of Bulk Oil And Transport Company Limited(BOST), Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Former Minister of Education under John Mahama, Prof. Kwasi Botchway, Former Finance Minister under Rawlngs Dr. Kwabena Duffour, former minister of Finance under late President Atta Mills etc.
After a hectic back and forth between candidate Mahama and the party, Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang has been selected and endorsed today, July 6, 2020, as the running mate of John Mahama for the 2020 general elections.
Many political and commentators pundits have assigned many reasons why John Mahama picked Prof. Opoku Agyemang. Some have argued that candidate Mahama definitely knows he will lose election 2020 not only because Ghanaians have always given the ruling party a second term but also because of the performance of the NPP government. They therefore think, looking at Prof. Opoku Agyemang, she is not likeable will not pose a threat to he, Mahama should he contest in 2024, the reason for this selection. Others argued that, he chose her because because he can easily control and manipulate. That is not the focus of this section.
The focus of this piece is to touch on the few things the endorsed Vice Presidential candidate, Prof. Opoku Agyemang, the then Minister of Education under John Mahama.
Under her watch as Education Minister, she introduced and implemented number of anti-teacher policies. Key among them include the cancellation of the teacher trainee’s allowance. The allowance was cancelled in 2014 due to economic difficulty the country was under during their term. They explained that the essence of introducing the allowance has outlived its purpose. President Mahama in endorsing the decision after several complaints from the students said, he would rather lose the election than restore the cancelled allowance. The NPP government as a promised made to the students and the general public restored the allowance in 2017. Each of the trainees is receiving GHC400 every month. The government provides an amount of GHC 816 a semester.
As if that was not enough punishment, she again introduced a killer policy of paying teachers only three months of their salaries no matter how long they have worked before their first salary is paid. Being put on the government pay roll takes some time due to clearance and the government budget cycle. This process can sometimes delay salary for over a year. The then Minister of Education, Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang being aware of this introduced this anti-teacher policy. Teachers complained and demonstrated but they were never paid. For example, if a teacher works for 24 months and if the salary payment were to delay as it used to be a regular occurrence with the previous administration, affected teachers would only be compensated with only three out of the twenty four months that they have worked. The current administration now ensures that newly trained teachers are paid latest six months since their start of employment. On top of these, the government in 2019 released GHC 49 million to pay arrears (legacy arrears) inherited from the previous government due to its failure to pay teachers full salaries. In 2018, the government released over GHC14 million to pay for the outstanding transfer grants, allowances and salary arrears of validated teachers engaged between January 2013 and December 2016.
Again, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the NDC, has openly opposed the FREE SHS policy. Not only did she oppose to the current free education policy, she even stated that it was under her watch that Free SHS policy was introduced. The NDC introduced what they called “progressively free education” which they couldn’t even afford to pay. It took this government to raise funds to pay for those debts.
Again, under her watch, the Ministry of Education was indebted to almost every institution. There were GETFund arrears totalling of GHC3.7billion, GHC 36 million feeding grant debt for the Colleges of Education, Capitation Grant debt of GHC 8 million, GHC 4.7 million debt of Feeding Grant for Special Schools and the GHC 24 million debt for the SHS subsidy. All these debts have been cleared by the current government under the leadership of Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh. Clearly, this is not someone we can trust with the position of a Vice President.
Furthermore, as if the incompetence displayed in Ghana was not enough, she managed to earn Ghana the last position in an international examination. Ghana was ranked last in the biggest global school rankings published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The analysis, which was based on test scores in maths and science in 76 countries, is a much wider map of education standards than the OECD’s Pisa tests, which focus on more affluent industrialised countries. The report, published by the OECD, argues that the standard of education is a “powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long run”. It also indicated that: “Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession.” After this shambolic performance, Ghana never participated in the ranking again to avoid more disgrace.
Finally, it was under her watch that the NDC made a promise of building 200 Day Schools across the country. They promised to build 50 schools every year. At the end of the tenure of the NDC, only 46 were complemented. They couldn’t even meet a one-year target in 4 years period. She as the head of the Ministry of Education, promised to build ten new colleges of Education. At the end of their tenure not a single block was laid anywhere for this purpose.
It is obvious Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang was appointed for many reason other than competence. She is a fine technocrat and academic rising to the position of a Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast. Her performance at the Ministry of Education leads to one conclusion, she is not cut for politics. She has been disappointing as a politician and the current position she finds herself would expose the gaps in her skills and competencies. She hasn’t proven herself and her critics wrong in the political space. She brings little to the table as a former minister based on her performance.
From the above, it will not be difficult for people to believe that Prof. Nana Opoku Agyemang was chosen to avoid a possible threat against the political career of John Mahama.
By Enoch Nyarkoh, Email: contact@4more4nana.org | The views expressed by the writer are solely his and do not represent the position of Daily Mail GH
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