The Appointment Of E.T. Mensah As An Overseer Is An Error Of Judgement

I author this piece in the interest of the education of all Ghanaian children and in the national interest. I am disappointed and disillusioned and so are many observers and sympathizers of our great National Democratic Congress (NDC) about events in the last few days leading to the appointment of Mr. E.T. Mensah to lead the political discourse on education as its overseer.

I consider this appointment as a complete error of judgment on the part of the president and those who offered him this advice. It is unfortunate that at a time when the general Ghanaian populace is dissatisfied with the outcomes of our educational engagements from the foundation level through the tertiary level, we will have the impudence to now begin to rub salt in their wounds by appointing a clueless and incompetent individual like Mr. E.T. Mensah to lead the national discourse on education. Let me be blank to say that Mr. E.T. Mensah should not even for a split of a second lead Ghana’s educational discourse for there is nothing he would bring to bear on that all-important discourse.

If, indeed, at its current state, the NDC lacks individuals with the requisite skills, the competence, and the hands-on experience to lead the national discourse on education, I am sure nothing prevents the president from extending a hand to an academician who can fill the void until such a time when a substantive card bearing member of the party is found to lead the educational discourse. After all, the logic on which we elected Professor John Evans Atta-Mills was because of his academic credentials. If that logic still holds, to the extent that some of us believe that a teacher who doesn’t understand simultaneous equation cannot teach it, then we expect the learned professor to respect Ghanaians and ensure Ghanaians get value for money. “How on earth can you appoint Mr. E.T. Mensah to head the vacant education ministry when we have stalwarts like Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah on the sidelines watching the unfolding events?” a caller who woke me up this morning to the story quizzed.

I do not want to belabor why E.T. Mensah’s appointment to the education ministry will only add to the undying crisis that has engulfed the NDC administration. I urge the president to return immediately to the drawing board to rectify this obvious blunder before it is too late. Ghana doesn’t lack the needed human resource to turn its fortunes around. It is the lack of vision, courage, and the dynamism to ensure we have the right mix of skills and competency in its political leadership to take bold decisions that will inure to the benefit of the whole nation that is causing us to still be wandering in the woods without a destination.

Once again, I reiterate the point that Mr. Enoch Tei Mensah does not have what it takes to lead Ghana’s educational discourse. There are thousands of Ghanaian professors who have excelled in the area of education and can bring their knowledge and expertise to bear on the educational system. Let’s, for once, be sincere to Ghanaians.

Prosper Yao Tsikata

NDC Member and Activist.