From Parliament Chief Whip to teaching - Muntaka returns to his 'first love'

He entered the Parliament of Ghana on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2005, through a by-election in Asawase in the Ashanti Region, where he won majority of votes; 11,142, to replace Dr. Gibril Adamu Mohammed.

Gibril Adamu Mohammed also of the NDC had won the seat in December 2004 but died shortly after his win in 2005.

Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, prior to his parliamentary bid had served under late former President, John Evans Atta Mills as Minister for Youth and Sports until his resignation following allegations of corruption.

Before this, he served as a teacher but moved on from this after his political career began.

As Minority Chief Whip for over 10 years, Muntaka who has served in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th parliaments under the fourth republic, was replaced.

A younger generation of Minority members in parliament took over the affairs of leadership in January 2023 and replaced persons like Muntaka, and Haruna Iddrisu among others.

Despite having protested this for a long time, attributing the reshuffle to deliberate efforts to oust him and his colleague leaders at the time, Muntaka accepted the decision after the intervention from some big wigs including former President, John Dramani Mahama.

In recent times, he has decided to go back to his ‘first love’; teaching which he was doing even before his political journey.

Muntaka who has a Masters Degree in Development Policy and Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology had the opportunity to teach at GIMPA for a short period and had plans to continue his teaching when his party; the NDC won power in 2008 under the Mills government.

Speaking about how he has had to return to teaching as a way to give back to society following his replacement, Muntaka said with his position as an ordinary MP now, he has returned to teaching and is currently lecturing at the University of Professional Studies in Accra.

“I’ve always had this at the back of my mind that someday when I’m done with this job, the best way to share your experiences is to be in the classroom so that you share that with the younger generation of our country.

“So when this thing happened, I have some friends around - I used to be very busy, so now you wake up and you have the whole day to yourself, you don’t know what to do with it. It’s like if you are not in the constituency, you spend the whole time watching TV,” he noted.

“I told myself that ‘no, you can’t do that’, I mean with this huge experience, it is important that you try to share it. So graciously, UPSA offered me that opportunity, and for the past three months,” he added.

According to the Asawase MP, it is an experience he is willing to take up for a long time because he is enjoying it and hopes to influence younger generations with his knowledge acquired.

“I’ve been doing that and I must say that I’m really enjoying it. We have seminars where you share your experiences. We have a master class, you are talking about life experiences, how things get done, how things get knocked down, and believe me, it’s such a wonderful thing and I’m enjoying doing that,” he added.

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