The Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has lambasted the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, over his claim that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) intends to bribe SHS students into voting for them by promising them free tablets.
In a Twitter post, Mr. Ntim Fordjour argued that former president Mahama is being hypocritical with his criticisms, thereby citing a previous development where he (Mahama) made the same promise.
According to him, the former president who made the same promise during one of his campaign expeditions during the 2016 general elections, has no moral right to criticize the NPP.
Sharing a video clip of Mr. Mahama making such a promise to students, Ntim Fodjour emphasized that the NDC flagbearer's recent criticisms about the ‘free tablet initiative’, only exude desperation.
“How could desperate hunger for power cause one to embarrass himself this way? Same Mahama then and now on 1 Student 1 tablet. He promised it in 2016 and now condemning same in 2024??” he posted together with the video on Twitter on Friday, April 6, 2024,
What Mahama said about distributing tablets to SHS students
Mahama's promise, which he made in September 2016, was that textbooks for the various core subjects will be converted into the software which will be put on tablets and distributed to Junior High and Senior High School students.
“Students will receive tablets that have all their core subjects on the tablet. If the pilot is successful, the programme shall be expanded,” he is quoted to have said in a report by peaceonline.com
Mahama’s recent comments about NPP’s promise to give students laptops:
During a special public lecture at Wisconsin International University College in Accra, John Mahama voiced out his concerns, highlighting the government's neglect of essential ongoing educational projects to focus on tablet distribution.
The former president emphasized the importance of directing state resources toward addressing more urgent needs within the education sector.
"You bring a new curriculum, the children have [had] no textbooks in basic schools for the last four years, and you think that giving pre-tertiary students tablets is more important. Of course, everybody knows the political expediency," he said in a report by citinewsroom.com.
Mahama also expressed skepticism regarding the timing of the tablet distribution, suggesting it is an attempt to sway the votes of pre-tertiary students who will soon be eligible to vote.
"The pre-tertiary students are going to register in May because some of them will be turning 18 years and above; some are 18 already, and they are going to be the ones voting. So, this is a gift to entice them to vote for the current government," he stated.
Mahama also criticized the allocation of GH¢1.3 billion for providing laptops to pre-tertiary students, arguing that other urgent issues within the educational system need attention.
"Otherwise, if you are using GH¢1.3 billion to give pre-tertiary students laptops, our priority would have been different. Other things are begging for funding in our educational system than those laptops. But it is a bribe for them to vote for this government," he reiterated.
Watch Mahama’s laptop promise in the video below:
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