Members of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, continue to criticize recent comments by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in connection with abandoned school blocks that started under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration.
The latest to comment is former deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu who, in a Facebook post of October 22, described Akufo-Addo’s remark on the E-block completion appeal by the Aflao Paramount Chief as ‘not defensible’ and a ‘new low in Presidential indiscretion.’
Speaking in an interview with Kwame Sefa Kayi on Accra-based Peace FM (on Thursday, October 21, 2021) the president made comments to the effect that Paramount chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, Torgbui Adzongaga Amenya Fiti V, might as well go ahead and complete the E-blocks if he is so worried about their current status.
The comment has attracted mixed reactions, with most NDC members being critical of the President’s posture.
Kwakye Ofosu’s post read: “President Akufo-Addo’s gratuitous attack on the Chief of Aflao is not defensible. It marks a new low in Presidential indiscretion.
“I maintain that he would never talk to his own Chief, the Okyehene, in that manner, no matter what he says. Then again, how long was it going to take for the artifice built around him for electoral purposes to wane and give way to his true self?”
Akufo-Addo’s response to non-completion of E-block
The president in response to a question by Peace FM’s Kokrokoo show host suggested that instead of giving his appointee an ultimatum, the chief should consider going to finish the structure himself.
Paramount Chief of Aflao, Torgbui Adzongaga Amenya Fiti V recently demanded that a contractor who had abandoned work on a school block in his area return to complete the project within four months.
He said this whilst speaking when Minority MPs on Parliament’s Education Committee paid a courtesy call on him.
According to the paramount chief, work on the Senior High School building which commenced under the E-block initiative had been abandoned over time. He thus called on the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum to ensure that the project is completed within the period he specified.
But speaking in an interview with Kwame Sefa Kayi on Peace FM on Thursday, October 21, 2021, President Akufo-Addo questioned why the paramount chief would issue an ultimatum to his minister about the completion of a project.
”Is he the one going to give the Minister of Education ultimatum?”, he questioned.
Prompted by the host that the chief’s request may be borne out of frustration, President Akufo-Addo replied that the traditional leader should “go ahead and complete the project himself” if he feels frustrated about the current situation.