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SIXTH (6TH) EDITION OF THE NDC’S WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING, ADDRESSED BY THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICER, COMRADE SAMMY GYAMFI, ON H.E. JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA’S APPOINTMENT OF PROFESSOR NAANA JANE OPOKU-AGYEMANG AS HIS RUNNING MATE FOR THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH, 2020.


NDC OUTLINES STERLING CREDENTIALS AND IMPECCABLE TRACK-RECORD OF PROF. NAANA JANE OPOKU-AGYEMANG.

Good morning distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media. We have the honour to welcome you once again to the headquarters of the great National Democratic Congress (NDC), for the 6th edition of our weekly press briefing.

On Monday, 6th July, 2020, the Flagbearer and Leader of the NDC, H.E. John Dramani Mahama made history when he, upon consultations with, and the unanimous approval of the Council of Elders and the National Executive Council of the party, announced Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as his Running Mate for the 2020 general elections.

President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), through the appointment of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Running Mate, have demonstrated that we recognize the towering contribution of women to the development of this country and believe in their capacity to lead at the very top of our political leadership – the Presidency.

Indeed, this is a proud moment to be a member of the NDC, and for that matter a Ghanaian, as for the first time in our Fourth Republic, one of the two most dominant political traditions, has taken a bold step to shatter the glass ceiling and barrier to women involvement in the highest office of the land.

The appointment of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, an astute Scholar, an achiever, a well-accomplished educationist and a dedicated public servant, is a well-deserved choice that has birthed a new paradigm in Ghana’s politics and provided a new sense of inspiration to the women of this country who have made several sacrifices for the development and progress of this country. Indeed, this decision is a victory for inclusive democracy and has further enhanced our democratic gains and credentials as a country.

Distinguished friends from the media, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is a God-fearing leader who exudes profound humility, honesty, competence, decency and patriotism. She has unblemished integrity and can be trusted to restore the honour and dignity the office of Vice President has lost in the last 3 and half years, when elected.

The overwhelming acclaim her appointment as Running Mate to President Mahama has received all across the world in the last 48 hours, speaks volumes about the enviable niche she has carved for herself in both public and private life.

EXPOSING THE BLATANT FALSEHOODS OF THE NPP AGAINST PROFESSOR NAANA JANE OPOKU-AGYEMANG

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, we have noted the desperate fabrications being peddled by the NPP about the sterling record of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Minister for Education.

Barely after the big announcement was made, the NPP’s Director of Communications Mr. Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, who has become synonymous with panicky auto-pilot parody whenever the NDC addresses the nation on critical national issues, hurriedly put together a poorly assembled press conference in a vain attempt to denigrate the personality of the impeccable Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.

Ordinarily, we would have ignored such blatant falsehood which offer no value or importance for the development of this country. But for the sake of the unsuspecting public, some of whom may not be aware of the facts, and given the fact that these untruths have become the chorus of NPP party communicators and apparatchiks, we would like to set the records straight as follows:

Firstly, the claim that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang canceled Teacher Trainee Allowance is false. The decision to replace Teacher Trainee allowance with student loan was a cabinet decision and not a ministerial decision.
As you may be aware, the erstwhile Mahama government, to ensure equity and equality among tertiary students, converted allowances for teacher trainees into student loans in order to abolish the quota system of admissions into Colleges of Education and increase enrollment and teaching opportunities for the Youth of this country. As such, students who did not receive allowances got their loans. This was a decision President Mahama himself took responsibility for.

This policy which was not properly understood by many, was exploited by then candidate Akufo-Addo and the NPP for cheap political capital and electoral gain with the promise that they will fully restore same if elected.

The sad reality today is that, instead of the full restoration of the allowances as was promised by President Akufo-Addo and the NPP, teacher trainees are being served with a partial restoration of the allowances, which is being paid in a rather very erratic manner and for only 8 months, instead of 12 months, as was the case before the conversion. In fact, our checks this morning show, that the Akufo Addo government hasn’t paid any allowances to teacher trainees since February 2020.

To add insult to injury, the Akufo-Addo-government has increased the school fees of teacher trainees and introduced feeding fees which used to be free under the Mahama government.

Worst of it all, is the abolishment of the automatic employment of teachers and the introduction of a needless licensure exams and an obnoxious mandatory national service policy for teacher trainee graduates by the Akufo Addo-government. Currently, over 2000 Newly Qualified Trained Teachers who have have passed their licensure exams and undergone the one year mandatory national service are still home without employment.

Additionally, the non-performing Akufo-Addo-government has lowered enrollment into Colleges of Education, thereby constricting teaching opportunities for the youth. Sadly, infrastructural projects initiated in the then 38 public Colleges of Education have all stalled since President Akufo-Addo assumed the reigns of power.

These are the reasons why President John Dramani Mahama has promised to maintain the payment of allowances to teacher trainees and abolish the needless licensure exams and mandatory national service policy for teacher trainee graduates, as well as restore the automatic employment of teacher trainee graduates when he is elected on 7th December 2020.

With Professor Naana as Vice President of the Republic, teacher trainees can trust that, the obnoxious Licensure Examination and nuisance National Service policy, which are convenient excuses for the Akufo-Addo-government’s unwillingness and inability to employ teachers, will be cancelled and more importantly, automatic recruitment of teacher trainee graduates restored.

Secondly, the claim that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang introduced the three (3) months salary payment for newly recruited teachers is false. This policy was introduced by the Finance Ministry as part of GIFMIS reforms at the time, to check the phenomenon of pay roll fraud and ensure that newly recruited teachers, nurses and doctors were paid their their first three (3) months salary without any hindrance and subsequent salaries paid upon validation. The temporary challenges the policy suffered at the beginning of its implementation were resolved through the interventions of the Finance Ministry under the NDC-Mahama government.

Thirdly, the claim that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang canceled Book and Research allowances for lecturers of tertiary institutions is yet another barefaced lie. Book and research allowance was never canceled under the NDC-Mahama administration when Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was Minister of Education. As such, the NPP could not have restored something that was never taken away in the first place.

Concerning her plea for clemency for the Montie trio, she only signed the petition to mitigate the harsh sentences of the three (3) convicts, after they had served 6 weeks in prison and paid GHS10,000 each, as fines for scandalizing the Supreme Court.
Her decision to sign the petition to request for a reduced prison term for the convicts doesn’t in any way mean that she endorsed their unfortunate comments as the NPP would have us believe.

It must be noted that the woman we are talking about is a responsible and caring mother of three and a loving grandmother. Good mothers are known to forgive their children when they go wrong, and after they are disciplined.

Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang did not only support the punishment of the “MONTIE TRIO” through due process, but she also identified with the repentance and remorse shown by the young men and sought lesser punishment for them. Her plea for lesser punishment for the “MONTIE TRIO” was therefore not a vice, but an act of compassion and a virtue.

It is worthy of note, that this was not the first time the country was witnessing such calls for lesser punishment for those who were found to have scandalized the court by their unguarded utterances. You may recall how lawyers from both NPP and NDC and several Ghanaians, pleaded for clemency for the NPP’s Sammy Awuku and the late Sir John, may his soul rest in perfect peace, when they were found to have scandalized the Supreme Court during the Election Petition case.

Are our friends in the NPP suggesting that, all those who pleaded with the Supreme Court for clemency for Sammy Awuku and Sir John when they were cited for contempt of court, endorse their reckless comments? That certainly cannot be the case.

Interestingly, our NPP friends who are criticizing this act of compassion, are the very people who have shielded from prosecution and punishment, their party thugs, the “Delta Forces”, who stormed the KMA magistrate court in broad daylight to attack a pregnant judge and free their colleagues who were in lawful custody. And that in itself says a lot about their character and credibility.

Prof. has lived a honorable life full of integrity and decency and has earned for herself an unsoiled and unassailable reputation globally. Anyone who knows her knows that she will never endorse comments that incite harm against anybody.

Again, the claim by the NPP that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang failed to provide chalk to schools when she was Education Minister is false. This blatant untruth highlights how low the NPP will go in trying to denigrate our flagbearer’s choice of running mate.
At a time when the state of education is such that our high school students are contracting Covid-19 due to the poorly thought-through decision of the NPP to send them back to school when we were recording a steep spike in positive cases, we should not be talking about propaganda that revolves around chalk.

For the records, under the tenure of Prof Opoku-Agyemang as Education Minister, more than 5 million pieces of chalk, comprising 4,994,328 boxes of white chalk and 180,000 boxes of colored chalk were provided to schools across the country, including the district of the particular school where the said incident with the then Second Lady occurred.

Aside from this, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang demonstrated unwavering commitment to the supply of Teaching and Learning Materials during her tenure as Education Minister by providing 472,800 Teacher Textbooks, 12.8 million Core Textbooks, 2.5 million Dictionaries among others, which significantly enhanced the quality of the country’s educational system.

It is important to make the point, that at no time under her tenure as Education Minister did the country witness a situation where not a single textbook was supplied to school children, and examination questions written by teachers on black boards, like we witnessed under the inept Akufo-Addo- government last year. In fact, under her tenure as minister, the Mahama administration changed the textbook ratio from 4 students sharing one textbook to one student having three textbooks.

Furthermore, the claim by some, that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is not fit for the Vice Presidency because she is not an economist is misconceived and laughable. It is instructive to note, that the VEEP Position is not about economists but, the ability to lead and solve the hydra-headed problems confronting the nation.

It should be clear even to the uninitiated, that any person who is able to transform a Public University, such as the University of Cape Coast which has a faculty of Law, School of economics, Medical School, School of Agriculture among several other disciplines and manage thousands of students and workers from diverse backgrounds, obviously has the competence and versatility to effectively manage and discharge the roles and responsibilities of the office of VEEP.

It is worthy of note, that this country has had Vice Presidents in the past who were not economists, yet chaired government’s Economic Management team (EMT) and produced excellent results. A classical example of this fact is H.E. John Dramani Mahama, who despite not being an economist served as VEEP and chaired the Economic Management Team under the NDC-Mills administration from 2009-2012. It must be noted, that it was within this period that Ghana achieved its best ever economic performance record; highest economic growth rate of 14.4% and longest period of single-digit inflation, just to mention a few.

Also, the late Aliu Mahama, a civil contractor who became the VEEP of President Kufuor did not have any economics background. Yet, he chaired the Economic Management team (EMT) under the NPP-Kufuor administration, which produced the macroeconomic achievements the NPP has continuously boasted of.

In any case, no government is bound by the VEEP-chaired EMT system which is a mere convention and not a constitutional or legal imperative. It is for this reason that the erstwhile NDC-Mahama government constituted a body higher in authority than the EMT between 2013-2017 called the Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy (PAGE) to oversee the management of the economy. And I will not be surprised if this PAGE system is adopted once again by the next NDC-Mahama government. But even if we decide to maintain the current VEEP-chaired EMT system, the versatile Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has the competence to manage the Economic Management Team with a team of knowledgeable economists and other personalities of the NDC, to produce the positive economic transformation and prosperity Ghanaians are yearning for.

As for the claim that she left behind debt at the Ghana Education Service when she was exiting as Minister of Education in 2017, the least said about it, the better. It is pathetic and laughable that this claim is coming from a group of people who have doubled Ghana’s public debt in the last three (3) and half years, with very little to show.

BACKWARD AND MISOGYNISTIC COMMENTS OF KEY FUNCTIONARIES OF THE NPP AGAINST PROFESSOR NAANA JANE OPOKU-AGYEMANG

Apart from the sexist and baseless comments of Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, the similarly disgraceful comment by the majority leader in parliament that Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is not capable of being the President of the Republic, is one of the most backward and misogynistic statements by a personality occupying a high office who should know better.

Comments such as these are reminiscent of other similarly shameful statements by President Akufo-Addo when he suggested that Ghanaian women are not dynamic enough at a conference in Canada. The worst part of this embarrassment was that he made the comment at an international women’s event of all places where he was scolded and schooled almost immediately by a fellow panelist on stage.

Such sexist comments have unfortunately but predictably come to define Akufo-Addo and his party the NPP. What is even more unfortunate is the reckless abandon with which Yaw Buabeng Asamoah and Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu attacked Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. It is quite jarring and so discouraging to people, especially women, to see how such a high-flying woman is attacked with such venom by politicians who could have been her students, and indeed some were.

It is very sad to see a Political party in the 21st century deeply rooted in the 16th century’s primitive views on women. But to any woman listening or watching us this morning, do not lose courage. Look at accomplished role model Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang and be encouraged and inspired to pursue your dreams; you can grow up to become anything you want to be, even the Vice President and President of our nation Ghana.

We again heard other female voices from the NPP talking about virtue. How rich in irony! We will resist the temptation to dignify those reckless comments with any response. The character, integrity, competence, proven track-record and excellent leadership skills of the venerable Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is unassailable. And no amount of lies can impeach her hard-won reputation or stop her from becoming the first female Vice President of this country.

And so we would prefer to spend the rest of this section of our press briefing to tell you a little bit more about Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.