NPP warns gov’t over attempts to punish head teachers over demo

General News of Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Source: citifmonline.com

Sammy Awuku White

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned government against any attempt to sanction or punish head teachers of the schools whose pupils joined the party’s ‘Won Gbo’ demonstration.

They say such attempt will portray the government in a bad limelight. The NPP hit the street last Wednesday to protest what they say is inconsistent power supply and the worsening economic situation in the country of which some pupils joined in the exercise.

Some of the pupils who joined the demonstration told Citi News’ Pearl Akanya Ofori that “we are joining because we don’t have light.”

Meanwhile, government has threatened to deal with the head teachers who allowed the pupils to take part in the protest.

But the NPP disagrees saying “nobody can suppress the expression of the school kids.”

Speaking to Citi News, National Youth Organizer of the NPP, Sammy Awuku argued that “if they [pupils] are going to have their homework done and they know that there is no electricity…it shouldn’t be somebody from the opposition to tell them there is blackout.”

“I’m throwing a serious warning to the government and its allies that they will be committing a serious thing against our democratic culture.

“Nobody should try and hide behind an establishment that teachers who partook in the demonstration or the children who were shouting because of unreliable power supply are going to be punished for their actions.”

“The government should not dream of even traveling that path because that will sink this government, because I can see danger ahead if they try to travel that far,” he warned.

In a related development, the four head teachers who allegedly allowed the pupils to join in the demonstration have subsequently written an apology letter to the GES and asked for forgiveness.

They include Ernestina Ofori Atta of Liberty Avenue 1&4 primary; Christiana Hanson Nortey, Mantse Tackie 1 primary; Lucy Kanyaguay Adego of the Ernest Brew Memorial Basic School and Robert Amankra, Liberty Avenue 3 primary.