The Parliamentary Candidate of the Ketu North Constituency, Eric Edem Agbana, has indicated that Ghana’s democracy may not have delivered the progress that it should, however, it is still the best way forward, indicating that he will always choose the ballot over the bullet.
He argued that democracy cannot be replaced with any form of governance even if it does not produce the desired effect, stating that democracy, even poorly practiced in Ghana, safeguards peace much better than any other form of government.
He however stated that the young people of Ghana may at a point in time rise against the political class due to the general belief that politicians do not have the interest of the general public at heart. He noted that the political class, through their actions, must ensure that the perception among the youth that politicians are self-centered is corrected to safeguard peace and security in the country.
He noted that the recent scandal concerning the Scholarship Secretariat is not inciting the needed national conversation that it should especially as it is an issue that borders on national development.
“Some of us are trying our best to change this narrative…and yet, you wake up to the news that scholarships meant for brilliant and needy Ghanaians are also being shared like cake among the people who are high-ranking officials in government”.
Eric Edem Agbana
Furthermore, Edem Agbana clarified that his condemnation of the practice of government officials coveting government scholarships for themselves and their associates cuts across the board, indicating that be it the NDC or the NPP, the practice is unethical.
“I wonder how some politicians are able to sleep at night knowing that, you are depriving the people of the very basic necessities of life”, Edem Agbana quizzed.
He noted that it is unethical for government officials to deny the needy scholarships or charge them in exchange for scholarships, emphasizing that it is appalling how many students cannot get a single scholarship when people have access to more than one scholarship that they fail to make use of.
Moreover, Mr. Agbana indicated that the situation is a serious threat to national security as the conducts of politicians continue to rile up the citizens. He advised all the individuals who undeservedly benefited from the scholarship scandal to refund all the monies to bring some sanity and calm to the general public.
Ghanaians Advised Not To Condone Wrong
Accordingly, Eric Edem Agbana admonished that politicians and Ghanaians must stop condoning and accepting issues of such gravity that pose a threat to the country as normal, indicating that granting scholarships to people who do not need it robs needy people who do not have any political affiliation of these scholarships.
He noted that there are two fundamental ways to merit a scholarship and these include scholarships won based on merits and those won based on need.
He argued that as it has been established that those who benefitted from the scholarships do not meet these criteria, their actions are inexcusable.
He further argued that though there are scholarships that capitalize on intellectual prowess only, the courses offered by the various institutions to the beneficiaries of these scholarships are proof enough that they do not have such intellectual prowess to merit a scholarship of such classification.
“Maybe a university offering you admission based on your performance or how strong your application may be could have offered any of them a scholarship and that is none of our business. But we are talking about scholarships from the Scholarship Secretariat, a government institution and you can’t convince me that any of these people got the scholarships on merit”.
Eric Edem Agbana
He argued that the present conduct of the act of politics in the Ghanaian political sphere is destroying the moral fiber of the Ghanaian society. “Some things may not be illegal but they are unethical”, he added.
Conclusively, Mr. Agbana argued that the government in its action has denied the needy people opportunities to build on their capabilities which will in turn benefit the country in the long run as it enhances the country’s human resources.
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