Sacked SHS girls are damn lucky; they would have been flogged publicly elsewhere – Koku

Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has said that the eight students who were sacked for insulting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should thank the President for having a kind heart to forgive them.

He said the girls would have been flogged openly in other jurisdictions for insulting the president.

“Honestly, these girls are damn lucky. In other jurisdictions, they would have been flogged publicly. What nonsense!! You joke with insulting the President & making it public? Ah! Ah! Ah! I guess we must thank President Akufo-Addo for having a kind heart to forgive them. Thanks Prez,” Mr Anyidoho tweeted.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made an intervention in the punishment meted out to some eight girls of Chiana Senior High School.

President Akufo-Addo made the intervention “after his attention was drawn to it”.

A press release issued by the Spokesperson of the Minister of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Friday, January 13 said Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to, as a result, consider an alternative disciplinary action instead of dismissal.

The eight girls were dismissed after investigations into a video they recorded in November, 2022, raining expletives on the President.

The Service, after the investigations, decided to dismiss the eight girls from the school.

Since a communication of the decision to parents, opinions have been divided over the punishment.

Some of the parents have condemned the action of their wards while the children themselves have apologised in another video to the President.

But a large majority, including the Minority in Parliament, called for a recession of the decision by GES.

The GES has referred the intervention of Mr Akufo-Addo to the school’s Disciplinary Committee (DC) for action.

According to the Service, the punishment meted out to the students was based on a recommendation by the Committee.

“Thus, Management has referred the matter to the school’s Disciplinary Committee to explore alternative sanctions other than dismissal,” a statement issued by the Head of Public Relations at GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, on Friday, January 13 said.