Having received a rather unexpected ‘lash out’ by her successor barely months after his takeover, one would expect a counter-reaction but she’d not be a part of it she says, she’d rather pass.
Former Education Minister, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman prefers letting comments by her successor, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh go rather than revert in like manner because she believes it would add nothing at all to improving education which of course is her utmost priority in life.
The Education Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh descended heavily on his predecessor Professor Opoku-Agyemang describing her as an “embarrassment”, one who didn’t understand education and one who left the Education Ministry saddled with debts.
“Her four-year tenure under John Mahama was an embarrassment,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh told the late Kwadwo Asare-Baffuor Acheampong popularly known as KABA on Asempa FM on Tuesday, 14 November.
“I heard that…and he is entitled to his opinion. What I expected is that as somebody who had taken over from me, we’d have the opportunity to work together but if that wasn’t the case, it didn’t really bother me”, that was her initial reaction when asked about the issue on the ’21 Minutes with KKB’ show.
She wouldn’t know what warranted such an uncalled for comment, she maintained; but “I wish him well. Education must succeed because our children must succeed. I wish every human being well, he is a human being and I wish him well too,” she stated.
A study to prove his claims according to her would have been very apt, nonetheless, she added, ‘getting back at him’ would solve nothing at all.
“I’ve been in education for a bit, I’ve played my role in many capacities, whether as hall warden or as head of department or dean or Vice Chancellor or minister. I’m not the one to grade myself, I can only say that I do the best I can. The comment that oh I was the worst minister, a disgrace and so on, you know worse is a comparative word, it would have been nice for me to get his report on the study he has done on all ministers who’ve ever come to reach that conclusion but I didn’t want to go antagonizing”.
“I didn’t think that would add much value to education, I didn’t see the point because I thought that if there was something he didn’t understand he could have called me and in so far as he didn’t and decided to go public that way, I don’t want to join him… It’s not about offence, I don’t see the point, What does that aid? How does that contribute to education, that two ministers of education are throwing insults at each other, I don’t think that is helpful,” she noted.
Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyeman has however expressed appreciation to all who endeavoured to call to ‘hear her side’ when the reports went rife.
“I had many phone calls, I was grateful to all of them in the sense that maybe the current minister is not the only one who can make any statement about me. As I said, I’ve worked in many capacities, I’ve worked at the institutional front, national front, on the international front and a lot of my international colleagues were totally outraged and I just told them, just take it easy these things happen sometimes so I had so many people who really couldn’t understand, most of them asked, did you say anything, did you provoke him, you are not that kind of person what happened and I said please ask him, I don’t know what is going on”, she said.
Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng (l) with Former Education Minister, Jane Opoku-Agyeman (r)