Former President John Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC who is contesting for the 2024 general elections, has been caught for allegedly stealing a policy proposal introduced by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
Joyce Bawah Mogtari, an aide to Mr. Mahama in a post on X, has plagiarized Dr. Bawumia’s policy of training the youth in IT skills to provide employable avenues for them by stating that “Our brothers, sisters, and children who are interested in coding will have the opportunity to participate in our ‘’Coding for Employment Program”, targeted to train one million coders with in-demand digital skills for the growing BPO and KPO ecosystems”.
What Bawumia Said
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in his address to the nation at UPSA, recently outlined as many as 70 policies that have been welcomed by the business community, importers and exporters, and Ghanaians in general.
The NPP flagbearer, Dr. Bawumia’s policy address was centered on technology, where he announced a major policy of training one million youth in many digital areas, including coding, robotics, and AI, to create jobs for them, in what he described as Digital Ghana.
On Pages 48, 49, and 50, under points 126, 127, and 129 of his policy address under Digital Ghana, Dr. Bawumia said “I want to see Ghana build the digital talent we require for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This will mean providing digital and software skills to hundreds of thousands of youth, including school dropouts. In collaboration with the private sector, we will train at least 1,000, 000 youth in my term in office. As software developers, our young people will have job opportunities worldwide.”
“Generally, there will be an enhanced focus on TVET education. My government will also support the establishment of a National Open University in collaboration with the private sector, with a focus on technical and vocational skills and ICT.
“To prepare our children for the fourth industrial revolution, I will enhance the repositioning of the education system towards STEM, robotics, artificial intelligence, and vocational skills to cope with the demands of the fourth Industrial Revolution and job creation.
“My government would make coding and robotics standard in senior high school. The foundation is being laid with the provision of laptops to SHS students soon. Teachers have already been given the requisite training. Following the senior high school students, we will also implement a one-student, one laptop policy for tertiary students through the provision of a zero-interest loan with a 70% discount on the cost of the laptop, payable over 4 years for tertiary students who need a laptop.”
NDC Stealing
However, to the surprise of social media users, Joyce Bawa Mogatari posted the same policy as coming from the NDC’s policy dialogue.
Social media users were, however, quick to expose, what they called ‘policy theft’ by Mahama and the NDC, to Joyce Bawa Mogtari, with some actually mocking her, Mahama, and the NDC.
Interestingly, Joyce Bawa Mogtari did not respond to the many tags of the social media users, who accused her and her party of stealing Dr. Bawumia’s policy.
This new trend of policy thefts has compelled some Ghanaians to question John Mahama on his ability to generate ideas for his campaign.
“It clearly tells you that John Mahama cannot think and generate his own ideas for the campaign, and that’s why he is stealing Dr. Bawumia’s ideas”, a worried IT student at Ashesi posited.
-BY Daniel Bampoe