Minister for Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has slammed what he described as faceless individuals seeking his downfall at the Ministry.
These people, he said, who are also New Patriotic Party (NPP) members are only pursuing a smear campaign against him for their own parochial, interest.
According to him, he was earning more money in the United States before he responded to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s call to come to Ghana and therefore it was unfair for such unnamed to smear him with mud.
“I did not heed to the call of the President to come to Ghana and take about 1.2 million when my base pay was US$300,000 a year. I left it to come to Ghana to take 1.2 million? By the way, the 1.2 million is here at the Ministry of Education”, a highly emotional Dr. Adutwum decried in response to some vile propaganda and smear campaign against him.
Dr. Adutwum was reacting to various media reports that claimed he fabricated reports of a teacher training programme and pocketed some $1.2 million World Bank sponsorship cash.
Over 40,000 teachers were supposed to be trained on the digital literacy platform under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).
It was as a result of the completion of this programme that the World Bank paid the $1.2 million to the Ministry of Education.
Dr. Adutwum warned that those doing slash and burn politics and repeating falsehoods many times in the hope that some people will believe it.
“So these faceless individuals should bow their heads down in shame because Dr. Adutwum will not do anything against the rules of the World Bank and against the rules of the country.
“I will not bring shame to Ghana, I will bring honour to this great nation or ours because I believe our great days as a nation are ahead of us,” he added.
According to him, he is one minister who has made himself accessible to the media and has regularly honoured invites to a number of media houses to speak on issues in the education sector.
He questioned why he was not approached for his reactions when his ‘enemies’ decided to use the media to spread all the lies against him.
“I’m one person who made himself accessible to you in the last four, five years than many ministers. If you get anything like that won’t you talk to me?
“Won’t you, if you can’t get me, all my deputy Ministers and there and say there’s something about the Ministry, can you respond to this?
“But for us to do the bidden of these faceless individuals; and I appreciate that you publish rejoinders but sometimes it is too late for my reputation”, Dr. Adutwum lamented.
According to him, he met somebody at Dallas Airport in Washington DC after Joy FM had recanted the story, which the person had not heard about.
“They have not heard about what Joy News said thereafter. What they heard was the first Joy News presentation that propagated a smear campaign against me,” he added.
Dr. Adutwum expressed appreciation for the work the media is doing to educate Ghanaians and assured he will continue to make himself accessible to journalists any day and any time.
He however urged the media not to do the bidden of faceless individuals.
