When contradictions and inconsistencies feature frequently in government communications, the integrity of the sources are justifiably put on the spot.
Ghanaians were confused and justifiably so last week when the President literally put Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu under the bus.
It was all about the controversial policy inclusion of Arabic and Chinese in the curriculum of schools. The subject has generated enormous heat on the public plane, the issue of Arabic especially added a religious touch to the public debate. Arabic was associated with Islam by some who do not know that there are Christian Arabs.
It all started on July 24, 2026 when Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu announced that President John Mahama had directed that Mandarin and Arabic were going to be included in the school curriculum.
Following the proposal and the accompanying uproar in the media, the Office of the National Chief Imam issued a statement. In the statement, the Office denied that the introduction of Arabic was religiously inclined, pointing out the economic dividends which come with knowledge of the language in the global setting.
There has not been any reaction from the President regarding the Education Minister’s announcement, which he attributed to him anyway, until when he turned up for an activity in the Upper West Region.
During the September 13, 2026 public engagement, he denied what he said were the talks about the introduction of Chinese and Arabic by some people.
There has never been any such decision at the Cabinet which he chairs as President, he said emphatically.
So did the Education Minister lie or not? Knowing the Education Minister, a Cabinet member and against the backdrop of the seriousness of the subject under review, he could not have on his own volition simply announced the issue.
The risks in doing so are just too many for him to be so daring. The President has not been fair to the Education Minister who, as it were, has been left to carry his own cross on the public space where insults have become the order of the day.
Fortunately though, many know the truth. The President has thrown his Education Minister to the wolves so he can survive. As a President who is wont to chicken out when the kitchen gets too hot, this latest remark is about a man living to his billing.
Indecision is an attribute of his as he pointed out in his book ‘My First Coup d’etat’. In the memoir, he stated he has throughout life battled indecision, a typical example being when he was torn between riding a bicycle into a fire or a nearby river when he was growing up.
His decision to throw Haruna Iddrisu to the wolves is a means of containing the backlash that the subject has generated.
In any case, just as he was denying the Education Minister, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) was hosting a workshop at the University of Cape Coast to equip basic school teachers to implement the Chinese language curriculum effectively.
So what denial did the President put out? Perhaps the decision was taken outside Parliament.
We are surprised that he did not mention the Education Minister’s name but preferred to hide between “some people are going about saying that Arabic and Chinese are going to be taught in schools. As far as I am concerned as President of the Republic, no such decision was taken by Cabinet which I chair.”
Poor Haruna Iddrisu, he is unable to come out to clear himself as he struggles under the bus he has been thrown under by his boss. Let him be consoled by the fact that most Ghanaians know the truth.