John Mahama is a coward, desperate for power in 2020 – Odike

Founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai Odike has described former president and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama as a “coward”, for promising to keep paying nursing and teacher trainees allowances if re-elected as president in the upcoming December polls.

The previous administration of Mr John Mahama cancelled the allowances for teacher and nursing trainees in 2016 and vowed not to restore it even if it will cost him the presidency.

President Akufo-Addo and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) restored the scheme after winning power in the 2016 general elections in fulfilment of one of its campaign promises.

Currently, teaching and nursing training college students enjoy a monthly stipend of GHC400 per head, with fears that it would be revoked once again should the NDC win power again in 2020.

But Mr John Mahama who would be leading the opposition party into the elections has said in January 2020 that, “for now, if I become the President on January 7, 2021, we are going to maintain the status quo. It means that they will continue to receive the allowances and when we have improved the Student Loan Scheme and made it is attractive enough for all students to go for it, then we will migrate everybody to it. So that’s my position on it as of now”.

It is for this that Mr Odike has described the former first gentleman as a “coward who is desperate for power”; contributing to discussions on Kumasi-based Angel FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com on Tuesday, Odike said the decision to cancel the allowances and migrate students onto the student's loans scheme was the best for the country.

“It is too bad that we are still pushing more people into nursing schools and paying them allowances every month and if we don’t take care, politics will destroy this country; when I become the president, I will revoke the allowance scheme and reinitiate the loan scheme and bond beneficiaries; that was the best thing that Mahama was doing but now he is saying that he would continue to pay if he becomes president again because he is a coward and desperate for power”, he said.