Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, a New Patriotic Party presidential candidate hopeful, has said the greatest threat facing Ghana is poverty.
He highlighted that Ghana must confront poverty head-on with bold and innovative solutions.
According to Dr Adutwum, his presidential ambition is anchored on fighting poverty through education reform.
Speaking in an interview on JOY NEWS, Dr Adutwum stated, “President of Ghana means that you have a mindset that tells you that things can be better than what I’ve inherited or what I see today.
“If I ask anybody, what’s the greatest challenge facing Ghana on the street, a number of them will talk about the cost of living, issues, things are very difficult.
“At the end of the day, I conclude that the greatest threat facing this nation is poverty, and that we have to be frontal with it”.
The former Education Minister further added that Ghana’s development history shows lost opportunities.
He added, “Why is it that we built factories in the 1960s, but they are gone. Why is it that we started so well, and countries like Singapore come here and they marvel at the pace of transformation of Ghana?
“In fact, some economists thought that Ghana will be the first black nation to become developed. What went wrong? What did we miss?”
Dr Adutwum further cited Singapore, saying, “When Lee Kuan Yew came to Ghana and visited us in 1963, he was amazed as to the Ghanaian transformation that was taking place at the time.
“In fact, it is on record that he wrote in his diary that he had seen something in Africa, and Ghana has gold, diamonds, cocoa, and other resources that he didn’t have, but he was going to focus on human capital development.
It is also said that he mentioned the fact that he didn’t understand why a developing country would have such a great university, but the university was being headed by a non-scientist”.
The former education minister added, “So in his mind, he knew clearly that education was what was going to change Singapore, but not just any education, STEM education at the foundation, built on it with engineering innovation. Then, before you know, you have a country that is emerging out of poverty.
So essentially, my quest to become, first the flag bearer of the NPP and then to become the president of Ghana is for us to do what we have never done, for us to directly look at poverty and say, what kind of education system should we create that will enable us to become innovators, critical thinkers, collaborators, effective communicators, what is called the four CS, so that we can begin to tackle our issues around it through a different prism. We need to be able to look at age-old problems with a new set of eyes and devise solutions that we’ve never seen before.”
Dr Adutwum, in a separate interview, warned that he slash-and-burn politics in Ghana can put the lives of all Ghanaians at risk.
Adutwum was sharing his opinion on the recent military helicopter tragedy on August 6 that claimed the lives of eight Ghanaians when he made those remarks.
He blamed the NDC for the Akufo-Addo government’s failure to sufficiently retool the Ghana Air Force.
Speaking in an interview on Nhyira FM’s Kuro Yi Mu Nsem, Adutwum stated, “I have boarded the Air Force helicopter several times, and I never felt it could even crash because of the experienced and disciplined pilots and its smooth ride. I am still in a state of shock”.
“When Nana Addo decided to buy aircraft for the military, the then opposition MPs rose against it and played politics around it. The ‘slash and burn politics’ can put the lives of all Ghanaians at risk and eventually make politicians look stupid,” he cautioned.
Adutwum added, “We cannot continue to demonise all the contributions of our political opponents for political gains. I believe if what a particular government is doing will help the nation, we must all support it and avoid unnecessary criticisms”.
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