With barely 10 days to this year�s General Elections, it appears the two leading political parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), have somewhat relegated issues of Education, Health, Jobs and the Welfare of Ghanaians to the background, and are on a collision course over the academic credentials of each other�s Presidential Candidate.
On Monday, a pro-NDC group, the Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP), led by Felix Kwakye-Ofosu, questioned why the NPP flagbearer failed to disclosed in his curriculum vitae (CV�s) that he schooled at Oxford University and sought to find out reasons for doing so.
Felix showcased an e-mail correspondence with one Jeremy Drew; Manager of the Degree Conferrals office in Oxford confirming Nana Addo was admitted to Oxford in 1962.
According to him, �attempts made to conceal� Nana Addo�s attendance of Oxford and �his failure to tell the truth when the matter became public completely undermines his claims of incorruptibility.�
�It is common knowledge that corruption thrives in an atmosphere of cover ups, untruths and a lack of transparency therefore a man who cannot be forthcoming with the truth regarding his own academic record cannot be relied upon to manage Ghana�s resources. Like one Flagbearer noted at the recent IEA Presidential debate �if you hide things about yourself, it is corruption��We have made enquiries into that subject as well from Oxford University and will put out information regarding that matter in due course. However, we deem it appropriate to afford Mr Akufo Addo or his spokespersons an opportunity to clarify it first,� RAP said.
He even went as far as to say that "some people who claim to have knowledge of the matter have said that he was dismissed from the institution for poor academic performance whilst others have alleged that it was for illicit drug use".
But in a sharp riposte on that same day, the Young Patriots, a youth wing of the NPP, raised red flags over the curriculum vitae (CV�s) of both President John Dramani Mahama and Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur and charged both personalities to set the records straight.
At a press conference in Accra, Richard Nyamah, Spokesperson for the group, claimed the NDC, lacking any meaningful message to convince the electorate, has rather resorted to malicious and senseless attacks on the NPP Presidential Candidate.
He was emphatic that Mr Amissah-Arthur never attained an M Sc. in economics in 1980 from the University of Ghana, Legon as published on page 16 paragraph 17 of the Daily Graphic of Monday, August 6, 2012.
�Ladies and gentlemen of the media, our checks at the University of Ghana indicate that Vice President Amissah-Arthur never graduated with an M.Sc in Economics from the University in 1980. His name is neither in the year group nor is the University aware of his self-claimed graduation in the said subject and in that year�.This brings a lot in terms of fraud to the table. The question is, did the Vice President defraud the University of Ghana with a fake M.Sc degree to be given lectureship in the 1980�s?� he asked.
On the CV of President Mahama, the Young Patriots stated that they never thought where their Presidential Candidate attended school and what he did when he was a teenager was what would determine the future and education of the children of Ghana in 2012.
But the group said since the NDC is asking, �we also want to know what their Presidential Candidate did at school when he was just 13 years old and what is so bad about it that it is totally missing from his book about his life?�
�We are reliably informed by classmates of the President that they sat in the same class with him in Tamale Bishops Middle School. He was in Form One A in 1970 � 1971. We will be very glad if the President can account for his time at Bishop middle school in the stated period�.Ladies and gentlemen, classmates of the President at Bishop�s middle school have intimated that the period is conspicuously missing from his CV because he and two others were allegedly dismissed for a sexual offense. The nature and details of the said offense is too gory and sordid to be repeated at this press conference. In the interest of probity, accountability and transparency, it is just fair for us to question the President as to whether he is the John Dramani that was dismissed for sexual offenses at Bishops Middle School?
Well, it remains to be seen how long these two major parties will continue with the personality attacks before concentrating on the major policy issues that have engulfed the electoral campaign.
Source: Rebecca Addo-Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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