GHANAIANS were first made to believe by the Ghana Palaver newspaper that Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom was hot following threats by some parents and students to take him to the river deity popularly called Antoa Nyama in the Ashanti Region to cast a spell on him should he proceed to court to contest the implementation of the Free Senior High School promised by President John Dramani Mahama in 2015.
Others were said to have also promised to vote against him in the 2016 general elections if he dare stop the implementation of the Free SHS.
But it has now emerged that the flagbearer for the Progressive People’s Party is least bothered about the threat and is bent on ensuring that government does the right thing before implementing the policy.
Divine Nkrumah, a National Youth Leader of the party in an interview with Peacefmonline.com asserts the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will mess up Ghana’s educational system if steps are not taken to resolve the issue in court.
Mr. Nkrumah reiterated the PPP claims that they are convinced the governing NDC has failed to implement the constitutional obligation of providing Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) to the citizenry, and out of political convenience, has rather sought to compound the problem with a promise to implement a free SHS policy. This he said could have a negative effect on students.
He was amazed such a legitimate concern could drive the NDC to fight back using all means including their “rented press”.
“This isn’t about propaganda, it is a legitimate concern we have raised and if the NDC believes they are doing the right thing, they should meet us in court for us to settle the matter there. Using some of their rented press wouldn’t help us all to resolve the issue”, Mr. Nkrumah said.
He continued that the PPP has never been against the implementation of free SHS policy but was only worried about the dire consequenceS looming ahead.
“NDC is claiming FCUBE should be progressive free but they know they are lying to Ghanaians.
If this education policy had something to do with something like the ‘akonfem’ façade, they would have managed to siphon state money immediately to implement it”, he said.