Drama unfolded last Friday at the Abossey Okai Cluster of Schools compound in Accra when former President John Agyekum Kufuor went there to commission the rehabilitated school block.
The school, which was in a deplorable state, had been rehabilitated by the Alliance for Africa Foundation (AAF), an international non-governmental organization of which Mr. Kufuor is president.
The commissioning of the school block, which was supposed to start at 12.00 noon, was delayed because the main gate to the school compound was locked by an unknown person when dignitaries arrived.
According to eyewitness accounts, a man riding a motorbike came earlier to lock the gate of the school with a padlock, claiming that he was authorized by some officials in government to carry out the duty.
But after some minutes, the gate was unlocked by a different person for the commissioning of the facility to take place.
According to sources, the action was instigated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie. The MP explained in an interview with a radio station that the school belonged to the government and therefore the authorities needed to be part of the show.
He was not apologetic about the embarrassment caused to the dignitaries, but rather played partisan politics with the future of pupils in his constituency.
As the programme was going on, Tetteh Chaie was called to deliver his message to the invited guests, teachers and school children gathered.As soon as his name was mentioned, the crowd started chanting the Woyomegate song that had been in the public domain for some time. They sang, �Woyome, Woyome; Woyome, Woyome oo, gargantuan, munchendi�.
Whilst the crowd sang, the MP, who felt embarrassed, pleaded with the crowd in a soft voice to stop singing so that he could deliver his message but all to no avail. It took the intervention of President Kufuor to stop the crowd from further singing the Woyome song which greatly embarrassed the MP and which obviously disrupted the programme.
Mr. Chaie thanked ex- President Kufuor for his support for the community and the role he played in making the rehabilitation of the school block a success.
Mr. Chaie said his major concern had to do with the low standard of education in the community.
He therefore entreated everyone to contribute their quota to making sure that education in the community was enhanced.
The MP assured President Kufuor that the school would keep the facility in good shape.
Mr Kufuor urged Ghanaians not to play partisan politics with education and health delivery in the country.
�When it comes to matters of education, let�s put partisanship aside and work together as a people and build the nation,� he noted.
He said, �If we do not restrain ourselves and allow partisanship to get the better of us, something that will contribute to the total upliftment of the country may be endangered.
�We did not do this work in order to use it for partisan politics. We are doing this to promote quality education and opportunity for our children. Without quality education, a child is permanently damaged and this is what we pray against for Ghana and Africa.�
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