A former Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has suggested that the government rejects Microsoft’s assistance to a Ghanaian pupil teacher who recently went viral on social media for drawing the entire Microsoft Word window on a blackboard for his students because there was no computer for him to demonstrate to them.
According to Amissah-Arthur, the government must learn to weigh various forms of assistance and intervention, and reject those that are “too small that we are able to do ourselves.”
Speaking in a Citi News interview, the economist and former Bank of Ghana Governor indicated that the New Patriotic Party government’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda is ambiguous and fails to indicate what exactly it means for the country’s development.
“Ghana Beyond Aid, but we are accepting a Microsoft computer…. So when is aid not aid?” he quizzed.
33-year-old Richard Appiah Akoto, an ICT pupil teacher at Betenase M/A Junior High School at Sekyedomase in the Ashanti Region, went viral on social media last month after he posted photos of himself improvising by drawing the entire Microsoft Word window on a blackboard to enable his pupil to understand how the software functions.
Former Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.
His story got to the attention of Microsoft and they promised to equip Owura Kwadwo’s school with a device and offer him the opportunity to undertake a free professional development program.
While most people are applauding Microsoft for the move, the former Vice President believes that the support is not one beyond the government, and proposed that the government provides the school with four computers.
He said, “I saw last week that there is a very creative teacher who had drawn the window [of MS Word] and was showing how a computer looks like. I heard that Microsoft has offered to provide him with a computer and so on… So culturally what are we saying, we accept it. ‘Ghana Beyond Aid, but we are accepting a Microsoft computer. There are many ways we should be able to say that no, this one is too small, that we are able to do it ourselves.”
“We [can] give the school some four computers….One for the teacher and for the children to also learn… But we accept the thing from Microsoft, but we are also going through the period of Ghana Beyond Aid, so when is aid not aid?,” he added.
While calling on the government to come clean on ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ concept, Amissah-Arthur said the government must provide timelines for the achievement of the agenda to make it measurable.
“It is good to have a policy, but you must also have a time-frame. That after 10 years, even if someone offers to pay for AIDS medicine, because we don’t have money, we will reject it because we have to pay on our own,” he said.
Ghana Beyond Aid: ‘We won’t say no to gifts’
But a Deputy Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said that the concept of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is beyond any government program hence cannot be timed.
He described it as a paradigm and an approach the government seeks to have imbibed in Ghanaians, especially those holding public office, to ensure that they work primarily towards mobilizing local resources for the country’s development needs and not be expectant of foreign support.
Source: citifmonline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Amissah Arthur was once the Board Chairman of Ghana Supply Commission. It was during his tenure that Ghana Supply Commission began its downward slide. No wonder he is talking like this.
Asa, please it is not "aids".... it is aid. People like you don't even understand what is going on yet describe it as bogus. Like Amisah Arthur, like NDC, like Asa. They dont understand the vision at all.
Was this guy a former vice president and governor of Bank of Ghana? No wonder the P(NDC) messed up our country having ruled for 27 years with nothing to show... No policies or direction.... Ghana beyond aid is the ultimate goal for our country... Microsoft donating a computer to an individual teacher for his efforts with Gh beyond aid.... These NDC people are wicked, mischievous, hypocrates and ev!l..... We must not let the NDC rule this country again......
@Asa Ghana 🇬🇭 beyond aid is a vision it isn’t a one time event so saying it’s bogus at this time of the country’s existence gives me the impression you’re limited in understanding the whole drift of the vision. It is doing what is intended to be done so we’ll not depend on aid for our development in the long run. It’s as simple as that. No country can rely on aid to develop period. Should Ghana want to be a developed nation we need definitely to find the means to wean ourselves from the dependence on aid. You have a limited understanding and you were confident enough to insult whoever has such a vision. HE WHO KNOWS NOT AND KNOWS NOT THAT HE KNOWS NOT.......
Ghana without aid mantra is absolutely bogus. It is very clear that Ghana is not at this time well positioned to do without aids. You can't even sponsor common sanitation projects in your country and you are talking about Ghana without aid. Our forefathers were very intelligent enough to coin the proverb, a lot of fish in your soul don't make is spoilt. Even if you have more, you still as for more. He should stop talking about this, because making such statement and coming back to say you don't mean you reject foreign aid makes him a big fuuuuuuull. He speaks from both sides of his mouth.
MY GOODNESS, WAS THIS MAN THE VICE PRESIDENT OF KWAME NKRUMAH GHANA, KWEGYIR AGGREY GHANA, J B DANQUAH GHANA, PAA GRANT GHANA, S.D DOMBO GHANA, KOFI BUSIA GHANA, EPHRAIM AMU GHANA? I AM LOST FOR WORDS. IS THIS BLOCK HEADED EDIOT THINKING THAT THE WEST WILL ALWAYS SPOON FEED US? PLEASE DO US A FAVOUR BY SHATTING UP BECAUSE YOU MAKE MORE SENSE KEEPING QUIET. I AM APPALLED. WHO APPOINTED THIS MAN TO HEAD THE NATIONAL BANK? NO WONDER WE ARE WHERE WE ARE.
And this man was our second in command in Ghana? God have mercy on us
oh bossman Ex Vice Pee. You do all but now you crown with absolute follyyyyy... else I dont believe you said that koraaaaa.
I respect everyone equally, But hell!! What's wrong with you. What's the sense in all you just said.........when you were vice, why didn't you think of making ICT available to the school......Not to even mention....you talk about only 4 computers. Hell, what do you know about computers. how well can only four computers serve all the students in the school. How would building a "Ghana beyond aid" amount to rejecting a donation from Microsoft or any other? Would you even listen to your self. Just listen to that.....!!!! "The government must learn to weigh various forms of assistance and intervention, and reject those that are “too small that we are able to do ourselves.” If you're able to do it, why don't get up and go buy those 4 computers you suggested. I sometimes wonder how God lets you guys get all the way to the top, while the good ones are suffering.....but who am i to judge.
Amissah-Arthur y3 gyi-mi fo) paaa