Ablakwa shares records of Naana Jane amid claims she left Education Ministry in arrears

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reacted to claims by members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, mismanaged the educational sector when she was the Minister for Education.

After her speech at her outdooring as the running mate of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang has been at the receiving end of criticism by leading NPP members who accuse her of mismanaging the educational sector when she was in charge of it and leaving the Ministry of Education in huge debt.

Reacting to this in a post shared on Facebook on Friday, April 26, 2024, Ablakwa, who was a deputy to Prof. Opoku-Agyemang when she was minister for education, said that the claims that the NDC running mate left arrears at the Education Ministry are false.

He said that the former minister for education rather left behind funds for important projects, which the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government benefited from but is silent on.

“A number of dazed NPP communicators have shamelessly ignored the current debilitating arrears in the education sector and are launching blistering attacks on Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang over arrears they inaccurately claim she left at the Education Ministry.

“Why are they dishonestly silent on the over $143 million Prof. Opoku-Agyemang creatively negotiated, secured and left for her successor?” he quizzed.

The North Tongu legislator went on to give a breakdown of funds left behind by Prof. Opoku-Agyemang when she was leaving the Ministry of Education.

"1) Prof. negotiated, secured and left behind €45 million for the construction of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in the Eastern Region; 2) Prof. negotiated, secured and left behind some US$75 million under the 2014 World Bank-supported $156 million Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP); 3) Prof. left over US$20 million for various TVET and skills development initiatives under COTVET.

“In the entire history of Ghana, how many ministers have left funds for their successors? Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang deserves to be celebrated, not vilified with false narratives,” he added.

View Ablakwa’s post below:

BAI/GA

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