Open letter to Akufo-Addo requesting shut down of schools

10th July 2020

Open Letter to
The President
Republic of Ghana:
Jubilee House
Accra

Dear President, H. E. Akuffo Addo,

Please Your Excellency:

ORDER A SHUT DOWN OF THE SCHOOLS IMMEDIATELY AND STOP E. C REGISTRATION -SOS call

I am writing to you as a professional education instructor at both the tertiary and pre-tertiary levels, Educational Administrator and a member of the Educational Administrators and Planners of Ghana with19 years of experience, and a former Returning officer of the Electoral Commission (EC) with 16 years as an election officer.

I am not qualified to counsel you, Your Excellency. I am unfit to even dream of becoming your advisor, but I pray I may find favour before you with my humble call.

However, I am a Ghanaian voter and more than qualified to vote for you and indeed on 7th December 2016, many Ghanaians of my kind voted for you to become the Chief Executive Officer of the entire Country.

I recall the groundswell of commendations you received from the many institutions and individuals the world over. That singular mandate is given to you, of which you honourably and wholeheartedly accepted on 7th January 2017 by taking the Oath of Office. we surrendered and entrusted our safety, security and wellbeing to you and you alone. We did not vote for the Courts to determine who a Ghanaian is.

We did not vote for the Electoral Commission to tell us how a Ghanaian can be determined, but we voted for you to protect our lives, that of our children and the entire society.

The world over is inundated and shattered by a global disease, the COVID 19 that is no respecter of persons nor race nor faith nor wealth, etc. No country in the world is doing the magic you are doing in Ghana.

Through you and your institutions like the courts, the National Identification Authority, Parliament, Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Education and the Electoral Commission of Ghana experimenting at higher risk the lives of human beings by exposing them to coronavirus disease through the activities of the aforementioned institutions some with tacit approval by some organs of government.

So far, Ghana has lost many distinguished lives involving over 120 people which include renowned Doctors, politicians from your Party and latest a student in KNUT SHS who painfully lost his life through neglect of teachers for fear of contracting the dreaded COVID 19. Mr President, I am imploring you in the name of Almighty God, to whom you serve and revered to shut down schools and order the immediate halt of the ongoing registration exercise by the Electoral Commission and NIA.

Many institutions like the Courts, Finance Ministry, BOST, COCOBOARD, Surgical wards of our hospitals, etc including Cabinet have all shut down because of infection of COVID 19 yet our children have been asked to go to school. Many parents like myself cannot close our eyes to sleep seeing the higher risks of COVID-19 at our schools. Several cautions from health professionals to GES and EC appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.

The spike in COVID 19 figures is attributable to increase political activities including Political primaries recently organised by the New Patriotic Party, EC and NIA activities and overcrowding in schools and markets places and institutions.

Students writing 2020 WASSCE and BECE

Mr President, the West Africa Secondary School Examination(WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) are products of governmental policies.

Primarily, WASSCE is organised by the West African Exams Council on behalf of the secondary schools whilst the BECE is also organised by the same WEAC on behalf of the government. The latter exam is to enable GES to do a placement at the second cycle level.

This can be resolved by a policy in the absence of exams this year. The schools already have a continuous assessment which have been submitted to WEAC.

This can assist in doing the placement and selection of programmes at the second cycle schools.

On the WASSCE, our big brother Nigeria has pulled out, but I believe the 5 member countries can sit around the table to resolve this with policy and exceptions. Many of the products of our SHS would want to pursue tertiary education and I believe this can easily be resolved.

Thus, we can avoid the current high risk of keeping the students and pupils in schools since COVID 19 is no respecter of persons. Judging from the above, students are not in the right frame of mind to prepare and learn to write the examination because they live with fear and anxiety every day due to the risks of contracting COVID 19. The schools themselves do not provide the right psychological atmosphere for learning and writing exams.

Ongoing Registration Exercise and NIA Activities

The risks and the spikes in COVID 19 numbers cannot be contained by our health facilities. Already the lives of our medical personnel are in danger. So far, more than 779 doctors and other health officers are reported to have contracted the disease with unpleasant 9 deaths amongst them.

The EC activities as ongoing is an affront to the fight against COVID 19. The 2020 elections can be organised without a new register, the CI 72 which has been amended can be amended again to allow for the use of the old register.

In fact, the 1992 Constitution does not say we should vote by biometrics. The register that was used for the District Assembly elections cannot be said to be bad.

It is better to save lives today with the old register than to bury many innocent lives with a new register. Many parents including myself see the reopening of the schools at this very critical time as purposely because of the registration by EC, and the sad narrative is that parents cannot take their wards from the schools even when they are in critical conditions of ill health.

This is very bad and inhumane. Reports of Accra Girls SHS, KNUST SHS deaths, and many others around the countryside is exposing the serious weakness in the policy.

Already, as an angry and hungry Menzgold customer, the threats of contracting COVID-19 at the EC registration centres is making me lose trust in all our leaders. Mr President, please save our souls now.

How will posterity see and judge your presidency? Is it that President who wanted re-election at all costs and so all his decisions were perceived as towards the next elections and not to preserve the next generation? How will your ancestors welcome you into their hall of fame when your time is due? Will it be said as the one who put the lives of millions of Ghanaians at the risk of contracting COVID 19 simply because of an election?

Divine providence has been so good to you, Your Excellency with this well-fulfiled age of 76. I believe God is interested in how your end is going to be. How will you end the conclusion of your life as the President of Ghana? What will be history report card of your reign?

Many lives, including that of the students, are at higher risk now. Your Excellency, please order the closure of the Schools and a stoppage of the ongoing registration. You told us we know how to bring the economy back, but we do not know how to bring back human lives that are lost. The time to act is now..save our souls.