Presidential Aide Hits Back At NUGS Prez

A Presidential aide and a member of the government’s Communication team, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, has condemned the president of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) for what he described as ‘irresponsible pronouncements’.

The President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) Anthony Abotsi Afriyie is reported to have accused a Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Education, J. S. Annan, and government of interfering in the affairs of the union.

Addressing a charged press conference in Accra on Wednesday, December 8, the supposedly axed president stated that persons within government have manipulated the students’ front, especially for the 2010/2011 academic year.

He traced the roots of Government’s purported interference to the presence of Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa and his “boys” at a Students Representative Council (SRC) election, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), a situation he said was replicated on other campuses.

Mr. Abotsi Afriyie recalled the scuffle that characterized the choice of a venue for the last NUGS election, which was changed from the University of Education Winneba (UEW) Adjumako Campus to Jehans Training College in Wa, Upper West region, “all of this on the orders of the Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Tertiary Education, J.S Annan,” he alleged.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show, Stan Dogbe, however, described the pronouncement and allegations by the NUGS president “irresponsible”, adding that Mr. Abotsi’s instigations against people in government are totally unfounded.

“The pronouncement by the NUGS or the removed NUGS president is most irresponsible, if he thinks that his ambition is to be a leader, he must learn the rudiments of good leadership. Because just dishing out such irresponsible statements and instigations against people, is totally unfounded,” he said.

He cautioned the embattled NUGS president to find ways of addressing issues confronting the student body rather than drawing government officials into the fray.

“If you have issues with your colleague executives or other members of NUGS, it is a matter for you to resolve. What is this haste of trying to draw in government? We were in this country when they had their elections in Wa, and it was reported after the elections that the NDC and all the young ministers were all not involved…, so what is this about government officials’ manipulation?” he quizzed.

He alleged that Mr. Abotsi was probably axed out of office because some of his colleagues might not have agreed with his recent pronouncements and distanced themselves from him.