Former Western Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Toku has taken the administration of President Akufo-Addo to the cleaners.

According to him, the administration of President Akufo-Addo has failed woefully in many areas since their inception into office.

FAILING TO GIVE CREDIT

He criticised President Akufo-Addo for failing to recognize President John Dramani Mahama during the sod cutting ceremony for the expansion of the Takoradi Port.

The President cut the sod during a brief ceremony, for work to continue on Takoradi Port project.

The event was to crown his three-day tour of Western Region over the weekend.

Speaking to GhanaWeb on Tuesday, the former Regional Chairman explained that the failure by President Akufo-Addo to acknowledge the immeasurable role played by his predecessor during the sod cutting program was an affront to good governance and democratic development.

He said President John Dramani Mahama's administration gracefully acknowledged the role played by his predecessors during sod cutting or commissioning of projects they started.

His predecessor John Atta Mills, the Former Western Regional Chairman equally acknowledged President John Agyekum Kufuor during the commissioning of the famous N1 Highway in Accra whilst former President John Agyekum Kufuor, whom he succeeded did same when his administration commissioned the 37 Military Hospital which was started by the administration of Former President Jerry John Rawlings.

In the case of President Akugo-Addo, he said instead of recognizing the significant role played by the previous government, he was rather portraying to Ghanaians that he was beginning the projects by himself when indeed the port expansion, and other development projects for instance  were actually a continuation of where former President John Dramani Mahama left off.

As a contractor himself, he said even if anything had happened at all to the previous contract signed after change of government, there could only be a review of the Port expansion  contract and not necessarily a new contract as being portrayed  by government.

FREE SHS BROUHAHA

Addressing the challenges facing the introduction of free SHS by government, Nana Toku described the program as one of the failures of the current administration.

He acknowledged that although the idea to make education affordable and accessible to Ghanaians through the introduction of free SHS was laudable, the current challenges overwhelming Senior High Schools nationwide  could easily be traced to poor implementation of the free SHS policy by the administration of President Akufo-Addo.

He revealed that his daughter was at Arch- Bishop Porter Girls Senior High School in Takoradi, and therefore he knew how students were being treated under the current system.

He said lack of infrastructure to accommodate the growing numbers of students benefiting from the program, undue delay in release of feeding grants by government, poor quality of tuition due to difficulty in accessing books, syllabus, among other notable teaching and learning materials that ought to have been provided by government remained  challenges 

Instead of the current mass introduction of the policy as orchestrated, he said the government ought to have used the opportunity to introduce it only to brilliant but needy students as a pilot program and subsequently roll it out nationwide. But the government failed to listen to these genuine but wisdom from concern Ghanaians.

He said education, which is the bedrock of the nation should not be shouldered by an individual or government if citizens require quality service delivery and stakeholders want the quality guaranteed.

Consequently, he said the impediments currently hampering implementation of the popular education policy could have been avoided had the following hiccups factored into the implementation process.

He disclosed that many Parents Teachers Associations (PTA's) hitherto actively involved in the management of schools have decided to bow out following the shabby introduction of the free SHS policy by government .

Again, he said teachers in affected schools expressing their views about these challenges facing the schools as mentioned above, were being victimized by government.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PILLARS

Expressing his views about development, pillars serving as cogent factors influencing national development, the former Regional Chairman of the largest opposition party said peace and harmony remained crucial in determining the success or failure of countries.

Therefore, he urged Ghanaians to embrace peace and tranquility as the nation strives towards spreading growth and sustaining development.

Before any nation could achieve any form of sustainable peace and harmony, he said there must be tolerance of divergent views of citizens in order to promote good governance and democratic consolidation all aiming at pushing the national agenda towards growth and development. 

IMPENDING NDC CONSTITUENCY ELECTIONS

Having served in various capacities as an executive of the party with vast experience, Nana Toku said it was incumbent upon delegates of the party to consider certain leadership qualities during the selection of aspirants gunning for positions in the party.

He, therefore, cautioned delegates against allowing themselves to be influenced by monetary consideration during the polls which has been slated for 23-June-2018.

In the spirit of unity, hardwork, and commitment to duty, he asked delegates to vote for candidates willing to serve and contribute to the expansion of the frontiers and fortunes of the NDC in their respective areas.

He said delegates must endeavour to consider those willing to devote much of their time and untiring energies to reorganization of the structures of the party. "Politics is about time " he pointed out.

On his future political career, the former Regional Chairman said he was looking up to God to provide direction.

This subtle position adopted to keep his cards close to his chest however did go down well with potential delegates of the party who said they were yearning for his return to the political turf as leader of the NDC in the swing region which until 2016 elections was under the control of party.