Free tablets campaign: Anyidoho calls out NDC, shares video of Ablakwa making a similar promise

The former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, has called out members of the party for criticizing a promise by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to give tablets to students.

In a post shared on X, on Saturday, April 6, 2024, Anyidoho accused the NDC of insulting the intelligence of Ghanaians by criticising the said promise.

According to him, the NDC, prior to the 2016 election, made the same promise of giving students tablets.

“When some of us refuse to support the kind of propaganda that will hit hard at our hard-earned integrity, then they say we are anti-JM.

“You had the same intention so why criticize others for implementing the same policy? They should stop insulting the intelligence of the nation,” he wrote.

The former NDC general secretary also shared a 2016 video clip of the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, explaining a promise by the then John Dramani Mahama government to give pre-tertiary students tablets.

In the said video clip, which was from a TV3 interview 83 days before the 2016 election, Ablakwa could be heard saying, “(sic) is the e-textbooks, where we transition from the old-fashioned paper textbooks to e-textbooks on tablets".

He added, “And he (Mahama) announced that it will be piloted and, based on the success of the piloting, that the tablets will be distributed nationwide”.

Background

On Monday, March 25, 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched what the government is calling the Ghana Smart Schools Project.

The project aims at equipping students benefiting from the Free SHS policy with crucial technological skills and aligning with the government's commitment to leveraging technology to advance education.

At the launch, which was attended by the Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia; the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum; and other highly-powered politicians and stakeholders in the education sector, President Akufo-Addo said that the project will provide students with free laptops.

“To distribute 1.3 million educational tablets to students in SHSs. That is one student, and one tablet under the Ghana Smart Schools Project. The tablets are fitted with digital content to aid research, teaching, and learning.

“At the tertiary level, Ghana is pleased to provide tablets and laptops to students and lecturers at a discounted price to facilitate academic activities. The government continues to seek innovative ways to promote STEM and the FSHS policy,” he said.

View Anyidoho's post plus the video of Ablakwa’s remarks below:

when some of us refuse to support the kind of propaganda that will hit hard at our hard-earned integrity, then they say we are anti-JM. You had the same intention so why criticize others for implementing same policy? They should stop insulting the intelligence of the nation???????? pic.twitter.com/asT9uc5GIJ

— Samuel Koku Anyidoho???????? (@KokuAnyidoho) April 6, 2024