The Youth Wing of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said the Ghanaian youth did not cause former President John Mahama’s failure as President.

This comes on the back of the former President challenging the validity of the WASSCE results, citing instances of malpractices and collusion between students and teachers to cheat.

However, the deputy ranking member on the Education Committee in Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak stated that former President John Mahama’s comment on students cheating in the last WASSCE is rightly so.

In a brief statement, the Builsa South lawmaker stated there is evidence to the former President’s statement on student cheating during WASSCE.

“John Dramani Mahama said it as it is when he said some students were allowed to cheat during the recent WASSCE [GHASSCE] examinations.

“Africa Education Watch’s monitoring of WASSCE examinations over the past few years has revealed that cheating has become more widespread and brazing. In some instances, it’s organised, with teachers and supervisors helping students to cheat,” Dr. Apaak stated.

He continued: “I shared here, with the permission of Mr. Alorvi, a message to him by a teacher on cheating. As indicated in the message, the teacher is an assistant supervisor for examinations in his school as well as an assistant WAEC examiner. From his message, he regrets not allowing organised cheating in this year’s WASSCE in his school.”

But in a sharp rebuttal, the NPP Deputy Youth Organizer, Sandra Sarkodee-Addo has rebuked the former President adding that he failed to recognize the accomplishments of the candidates.

“His recent comments on national affairs have been more insulting to the intelligence of Ghanaians and more specifically, the youth of this country like never seen before.

“He has now made the youth of this country the sad recipients of his constant show of myopic and small-minded tendencies as though they caused his disgraceful failure as President. It is an established fact that Mahama as President failed woefully because he was incompetent, lacked foresight and belief in the potential our country possesses for growth and development,” Madam Sarkodee-Addo stated.

Below is the full statement from the NPP Youth Wing

Former President John Dramani Mahama has over time relegated his reputation to the background and thrown his integrity to the dogs. His recent comments on national affairs have been more insulting to the intelligence of Ghanaians and more specifically, the youth of this country like never seen before.

He has now made the youth of this country the sad recipients of his constant show of myopic and small-minded tendencies as though they caused his disgraceful failure as President. It is an established fact that Mahama as President failed woefully because he was incompetent, lacked foresight and belief in the potential our country possesses for growth and development.

In his recent visit to Asafo in the Agona East Constituency of the Central Region, he openly rubbished the success of Senior High School students who have passed their WASSCE with excellence. He, John Dramani Mahama argued that the students did not merit the successes chalked in the WASSCE and that their intelligence was not as the exam results portrayed.

Such comments can only come from a person who does not believe in nurturing the future of our nation. A former president and statesman for that matter, should not be demeaning in his utterances as John Mahama has recently been.

It would be recalled that this same John Mahama in 2014 urged the media to “make noise” on the success of Senior High School students who sat for the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination.

He claimed at the time that the results reflected the level of intelligence of the students and that was as a result of the effective educational structures laid by his Government. Fast forward to 2023, this same John Mahama is strongly against the media “making noise” about the success of students who sat for the WASSCE. There is no doubt that Mr. Mahama has no plans for the future of this country.

Concerning his claim that in most schools across Ghana, Teachers connived with the Students to cheat in the WASSCE, I dare the former President to mention only one school where such an unfortunate event happened. He who alleges must prove beyond street talk that what he alleges is nothing but the truth.

A former president like he is must not make such unfounded comments that insult the intelligence of Ghanaian students, the hard work of Teachers, integrity of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) which is in charge of the exam, the FSHS policy implemented by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the goodwill of the Ghanaian youth.

Also, John Mahama’s shoddy attempt to rile up Ghanaians against the FSHS policy and his desperation to be president again should not be grounds to discredit our entire school system to the outside world, reducing our certificates to nothing before our peers elsewhere in other countries. Ghanaian students and youth in general have always been intelligent and shall continue to be so.

The youth of Ghana remains the future of this nation. To insult our intelligence and that of the intelligence of our Senior High School students is a fight against the future of this nation and shall therefore not be tolerated. The youth of this country know how much John Mahama hates the idea of the Free Senior High School policy and by extension anything good that comes out of it.

Nonetheless, we shall not sit aloof to allow his hatred for the FSHS policy to cause him to insult the intelligence of students of this policy as much as Teachers teaching these students to become future leaders.

John Mahama must be reminded that he has up until now not been able to give Ghanaians a single policy initiative he intends to execute to support the youth of this country. For education and the SHS in particular, we know, without any iota of doubt how he intends to cancel the Free Senior High School policy without thinking twice about it.

Therefore, it is very important to inform him that well-meaning Ghanaians won’t give him such a mandate to do so especially when we know that he has no vision for this country.

However, this might be, I particularly urge Mr John Mahama to credit the Ghanaian youth with some considerable amount of intelligence when given the platform to speak.

He is at least a former president and a considered statesman and must live with respect to his office. In 2024, John Mahama must be a changed man, devoid of antics in an attempt to trick Ghanaians into believing he has anything new to offer the country.

Sandra Sarkodee-Adoo
Deputy National Youth Organizer
New Patriotic Party (NPP)