THE OUT-going deputy Eastern regional minister, Baba Jamal, at the weekend, said that he was one person who had always preached against violence and that he would prefer a bad democracy to war.
Baba Jamal was speaking at a matriculation ceremony for business management studies and civil engineering of the Koforidua Polytechnic on Saturday.
According to him, he was a man of peace and that he was going to his new portfolio as a deputy minister of Information with clear heart and conscience and to serve all Ghanaians.
He said the growing democracy and stability in the country had given a lot of hope to many African countries. He said it was incumbent on politicians whether in opposition or in government to preserve the peaceful environment in Ghana.
The out-going deputy minister told his audience that while the NDC was in opposition, he and Kofi Attoh were delegated to attend a Socialist International Conference in Benin and their intention was to tell the conference how the NPP then in power was suppressing the opposition NDC and frustrating it not to be able to play its opposition role effectively.
At the conference, representatives from all the major African countries referred to Ghana as a ‘haven of good democracy’ where other countries on the continent should take a cue from.
According to him, all the countries had commended Ghana and made it a reference point of good democracy which other African countries were asked to learn from.
He noted that when it got to the turn of Liberia, their representatives accused their political leaders of even sending their children to Ghana to have the best of education.
He explained that it then dawned on them that they could not mount the platform to say any bad thing about the government so they abandoned their prepared speech and praised the government at the conference for maintaining peace in the country.
He indicated that he was making this reference because he wanted everybody to know that it takes everyone in the country to ensure that peace was always maintained.
On polytechnic education, he said the government was committed to ensuring infrastructure in all polytechnics. He said polytechnic education in the country had become more relevant in the face of technological advancement.
“Now going to the polytechnic gives one competitive advantage,” he said stressing that the world is becoming more practical and it is giving more advantage to polytechnic students.
The Rector of the polytechnic, Prof Reynolds Okai said the National Accreditation Board in 2010 approved the courses of HND Secretaryship and Management Studies, HND Civil Engineering and HND Building Technology, bringing the total number of courses being offered at the polytechnic to 14.
He said the polytechnic would soon commence a Bachelor of Technology in procurement and that it would diversify the mode of delivery to include distance education in the HND programmes being offered at the polytechnic.