Presidential candidate for the people’s national party, Janet Asana Nabla has criticised President John Dramani Mahama over his public response to comments by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu concerning the government’s plans to introduce Chinese language and culture into Ghana’s education curriculum.
In a video posted on her TikTok page on Monday, September 14, 2026, Ms Nabla accused President Mahama of publicly chastising Mr Iddrisu instead of handling the disagreement privately.
Her comments followed a video circulating on social media in which the President reportedly responded to concerns raised by the Education Minister about the inclusion of Chinese language and culture in Ghana’s educational curriculum.
Ms Nabla argued that even if Mr Iddrisu’s comments on the proposed curriculum were inaccurate, President Mahama should have discussed the matter with him privately before addressing it publicly.
“Haruna Iddrisu is your brother. He’s your brother. No matter what the people of Dagbang have done to you, President Mahama, he doesn’t deserve this,” she stated.
She defended Mr Iddrisu’s contribution to the NDC and President Mahama’s return to power, arguing that the Education Minister had been an important part of the political journey that led to the party’s victory.
According to her, Mr Iddrisu had never publicly attacked President Mahama and therefore did not deserve what she described as public humiliation over the curriculum controversy.
Ms Nabla questioned why the President could not have invited the Education Minister for a private discussion to clarify the government’s position on the proposed introduction of Chinese language and culture into the curriculum.
“Even if Haruna says that you are trying to bring Chinese into your educational curriculum, and that is not true, is that how to handle it?” she asked.
She suggested that President Mahama could have first engaged Mr Iddrisu privately and then worked with him to explain the government’s position to Ghanaians.
Ms Nabla further extended her criticism to what she described as the President’s treatment of other former parliamentary colleagues who had worked with him.
She cited former Minister of State, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, claiming that the manner in which he was informed about his removal from office was also inappropriate.
“Rashid Pelpuo was with you in Parliament. Your key brother. Couldn’t you have invited him to your house to tell him that I want to bring you to this, this, this?” she stated.
Ms Nabla described President Mahama’s handling of his former colleagues as “shameful” and accused him of poor leadership.
She questioned why people who supported the President before he returned to power should be treated differently after his election victory.
“You’re a bad leader. You’re a bad leader. And you cannot handle issues. That’s what I’m seeing,” she stated.
The controversy centres on the government’s proposed changes to the education curriculum involving Chinese language and culture, with the issue generating public discussion and differing views over the policy and how it should be communicated to Ghanaians.
By: Jacob Aggrey
