President Nana Akufo-Addo
PRESIDENT NANA Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has
stated categorically that there is not going to be any teachings on how to
become a homosexual or lesbian in basic schools as being propagated.
He said he is a staunch Christian and a well
cultured person and would never allow any alien culture that seeks to promote
gay or lesbianism and other social vices into the country under his tenure.
With Emphasis
“I want to say with all the emphasis at my
command that whilst I am President there would not be thought or offered for
discussions in our schools, in our primary schools anything negative that comes
under the term Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE),” the President said
yesterday.
Breaking Silence
The President broke his silence on the heated
CSE debate after attending a church service at St. Cyprian Anglican in Kumasi
yesterday when he met some religious heads.
He said “none of our children who are now in
kindergarten and primary school are being thought any of the things that are
being alleged as we speak now and you are in a position to verify that for
yourselves whether indeed the new curriculum that is being applied incorporates
this negative deleterious matter that has incensed all of us.”
He said none of the about 152,000 teachers who
were on the guidelines were asked to go to the classrooms and teach the
children “this offensive sexuality education. None of them!”
Clear Statement
He said “it is as clear a statement and is
clear a categorical statement as I can make and I am making it to reassure all
those that are genuinely concerned. Some are genuinely concerned otherwise are
stoking up this matter for their own base political purposes but I am talking
about those who are genuinely concerned that these subjects would not be
introduced in our schools curriculum.”
“There are contemporary matters that have been
described as contemporary issues that are the subject of further work that is
being done by the Curriculum Board as well as the GES,” the President said.
He mentioned Gender Equity, Inclusive Education,
Sanitation, Climate Change, Road Safety, CSE, Green Education, Green Economy,
Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation as ‘cluster of ideas’ that are being
worked on globally to be able to come into the curriculum.
Power of Cabinet
“But for anything to be educational policy in
our country, this is not the creation of my time. It has been so ever since
there was a state of Ghana.”
The President said that any policy for the
country has to be approved by cabinet first before its implementation, saying “I
want to assure you that as long as I am in the chair in cabinet nothing
deleterious is going to pass through.”
“Educational policy is made by government so
all of these matters that are being defined and delineated would have to come
back to government and the main instrument of government is the cabinet and it
would have to come to cabinet for approval before it becomes policy that is
implemented in our educational system.”
Sex Photos
President Akufo-Addo also talked about the fact
that the Teachers Guide on Sex Education that has been developed does not
contain “anything near the graphic pictures and illustrations being displayed
on social media as to what is being introduced in basic schools.”
He urged Ghanaians to spend their collective
energies on the myriads of problems in Ghana and not allow mischief to destroy
the country.
Admitting Faults
He said he has no difficulty in acknowledging
any mistakes his government would make but said however that “on this subject
of CSE, I am able to say the government is not about to introduce any such
negative information for our children.”
He said “I didn’t bring the Free SHS to provide
a vehicle for polluting our children and exposing them to negative moral
spiritual and social attitudes. That was not the purpose.”
During his brief speech at the St. Cyprian
Anglican Church, the President said he is well vexed in the culture and
traditions of the country and so far as he remained President and the commander
of the Ghana Armed Forces, he would never allow any unacceptable culture to
sneak into the country, especially in schools.
Calls for
Prayers
The President, who was beaming with smiles,
called on Christians and all other faiths to continually pray fervently for him
so that he would be able to implement all his policies and programmes to take
the country to the next desired level.
“Please pray to God to grant me sound health,
wisdom, courage, strength and a good heart so that I will be able to work assiduously
to turn the fortunes of this country around so as to expedite the
transformational process of this country,” he said.
Preaching the sermon, the Archbishop of the
Anglican Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, warned Ghanaians
against corruption and other practices that could potentially impede the
country’s growth, saying “we have to support the President to deliver”. “We
have only one Ghana and we need to build it together,” he added.
The Dean of the Cathedral, Very Rev. Oscar Amoah,
presented a special book to the President at the tail end of the service.
Fervent prayers were also said for the President and the country.
The occasion was the ‘St. Cyprian’s Week’ and it attracted a sizeable number of people to the church including the Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah, NPP Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka ‘Wontumi’, KMA Boss Osei Assibey-Antwi, ex-MP Henry Kwabena Kokofu and Subin MP Eugene Boakye Antwi.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
