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Opinions of Wednesday, 9 July 2014

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice

Anyidoho, Akuffo Addo Will Not Provide Sanitary Pads

....But Mahama Will

The debate about whether the government is right to provide sanitary pads to deprived or poor secondary school students has been raging on the airwaves for the past week or so. Whether it is right for the government to do that or not is not the issue with this article but I want Koku Anyidoho to get the answer his niece asked him about two years ago that we now have an answer for.

When Nana Akuffo Addo was campaigning on his free high school education policy during the 2012 Presidential election, Koku Anyidoho,then the Communication Director at the Presidency in his zeal to make a mockery of that policy asked whether Nana Akuffo Addo would add freebies such as sanitary pads for ladies to use at schools during their menstrual periods.According to Koku, his niece who is about to enter secondary school came to him and asked him this question;

“In fact two days ago, a niece of mine asked me...“Uncle Koku so this free SHS thing, is Nana Akuffo Addo telling us that, I will walk into a dormitory and go and meet a trunk and a chop box full of provisions, as well as books? So does it mean daddy and mummy will not pay a pesewa? Uncle Koko, so I have just begun to… have my period, will I be provided with free sanitary pads as well?” ...and this is a young niece of mine”, Mr. Anyidoho proudly said."

Little girl, Nana Akuffo Addo will not provide you with a sanitary pad but President Mahama will.

It seems like the decency train left the station without Koku or any NDC leader aboard hence their pronouncements sometimes leave one with an agape mouth. How any decent man can stand in a public podium and talk about women sanitary pads is beyond me. This is an issue that should be tackled by each family and not the government.

When students in advanced countries are talking about ipad, we are talking about sanitary pads, Oh Ghana, what did we do to deserve this clueless administration?

Justice Sarpong

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)