Adom-Otchere punches Naana Opoku-Agyemang over introductory speech at her unveiling

Paul Adom-Otchere says Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s speech during her introduction by the NDC was intended for “a populist reaction”, “disingenuous” and should not have been made by a professor and former education minister.

During her formal unveiling at University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on 6 July 2020, Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang stated: “…and everyone’s ancestor has been a worthy contributor to the space we now call Ghana”.

To this, the Good Evening Ghana host said: “is false and it undermines the heritage and history of the Ghanaian society”.

“It seeks disingenuously to equalize what everybody did and it is almost certainly a response to unnerve situations that come up with some people when it is said that President Akufo-Addo is over talking about his ancestors; he talks about his father, the big six and JB Danquah,” Adom-Otchere said on Thursday’s edition of Good Evening Ghana.

He believes children are being trained to aspire and emulate some great men and women whose lives are worthier in the Ghanaian society.

“Our political leaders should not be doing that. This system of equalization and bringing everybody to the lowest ebb is not good,” Adom-Otchere advised.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang’s statement, Adom-Otchere indicated, contradicts that of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s 1954 statement when the latter said, “Mr Speaker, in calling up our past, it is meet, on a historic occasion such as this, to pay tribute to those ancestors of ours who laid our national traditions and those others who opened the path which made it possible to reach today the great moment at which we stand.”

Paul Adom-Otchere noted that, for the running mate of John Dramani Mahama to indicate that everybody’s ancestor contributed to what we call Ghana, is bringing the great forebears of this country to the lowest level.

He added that as a running mate of the biggest opposition party, the least she could have done was to acknowledge the contributions of the great people who fought for the independence of Ghana.

“We should be mentioning the names of [the] greatest of our ancestors…they don’t have to be our relatives and we don’t have to make statements like ‘all of us our ancestors are the same’. My ancestor was not there when they were forming the UGCC, I don’t know whether your ancestor was there; if your ancestor was there, tell us and we will mention it,” he charged.

You don’t come as an NDC presidential running mate in 2020 and come and tell us that everybody’s ancestor did the same. You just debase everything and bring everything to normal,” a charged-up Adom-Otchere stressed.

Paul Adom-Otchere further called on Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang and her team to apologize for making a statement which denigrates the great ancestors of this country.

“…They must come and say something about it. At least they must withdraw that...”