Wↄn Gbo Demo: IMANI Boss Tells Okudzeto Ablakwa - Allow School Kids To Express Themselves

The Founding President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has questioned why the Deputy Education Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is worried about some school children captured chanting unpleasant slogans during the recent New Patriotic Party [NPP’s] infamous “Wↄn Gbo” demonstration.

According to Franklin, the disgusting power crisis also known as “Dumsor Dumsor” also upset school children so therefore they have every right to express their frustration against the incumbent government.

“Dear Deputy Minister of Education, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for North Tongu 2012, seriously why are you angry at kids who were spontaneously responding to cheers of what everyone knows and feel in the country?” he questioned

Pupils from four schools were said to have participated in the demonstration with some of them chanting "Mahama is a thief! Mahama is dumsor", as did the demonstrators.

The school children participation clearly depicts their frustrations as to why President John Dramni Mahama cannot resolve the power crisis after several promises.

But the Deputy Education Minister, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has insisted that his ministry will punish school heads whose pupils took part in the NPP’s "wↄn gbo" demonstration.

He said the decision to punish the heads is not to victimise any teacher but to ensure that the “safety of school pupils are secured and guaranteed in the future”.

Government is said to have launched a vivid investigation into the circumstance, but even before that, the heads of the four schools have all been cautioned and would be sanctioned for allowing such an unfortunate circumstance.

However, Franklin Cudjoe is of a view that, government's decision to sanction the heads of the schools is unreasonable since school children are not exempted in the Darkness.

He noted that, government must rather find ways to resolving the ailing economy as well as putting a stop to the erratic power supply.

“That due to excessively bad economic management, we have all been plunged into needless darkness? Please allow the kids to express themselves. What about visits by our President to such schools or when his convoy passes through villages and towns?” he quizzed.
 
Franklin however opined that, the NPP never forced the pupils to join the demonstrations.

“I suppose we all have seen school kids coming out of their classrooms to wave and cheer the President out of normal school hours. By the way I do not recall the NPP deliberately recruiting kids to cheer the dum sor demo,” he noted

“I suppose you have important work to do to ensure that the very poor performance of pupils in the Volta Region such as just 11 candidates in the whole region attaining aggregate six in the BECE in 2013 is ended. Please I am ready to support you to focus on over turning the plummeting fortunes of education in Ghana. Education is not propaganda. It is serious business,” he told Okudzeto Ablakwa.