Nana Akufo-Addo calls for prayers among religious leaders for peaceful elections

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, has appealed to religious leaders to pray to ensure peaceful elections in December. He said peace, before, during and after the December polls was paramount and stressed the importance of prayer by religious leaders for the electorate to appreciate the importance of peace and avoid violence during the elections. Nana Akuffo-Addo made the appeal in Tamale on Thursday when he met Arabic instructors and told them about the vision the NPP has for Arabic education. "I wish to use this occasion to appeal to Imams and other Men of God to continue to offer prayers for the success of this election and you can do this by coming together to pray for the nation and those who will conduct the elections to come out of the December elections peacefully", he said. Nana Akufo-Addo said education would be his topmost if elected and that Arabic education would be given the attention it deserved and that he would  sit down with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to see how best Arabic could become an examinable subject. He said the erstwhile Kufuor administration instituted an allowance scheme for Arabic instructors but alleged that the present government cancelled it on assumption of office and gave the assurance that the allowances would be restored if he gets the nod.\ Nana Akuffo-Addo said if elected his government would amend the Constitution to make education free from kindergarten to the senior high school and appealed to Ghanaians to vote for him in December to give good governance to the people. He said part of Ghana's oil money would be used to fund education and assured teachers that those who had served for a long period would be given mortgaged houses while those who accept postings to the rural areas would be given special incentives. Sheikh Issah Alhassan, an Islamic cleric, expressed regret that Arabic education over the years had been relegated to the background to the extent that Arabic schools do not benefit from GETFund projects. He said Arabic instructors were lacking in the Islamic schools and that the GES was not making attempts to recruit more Arabic teachers to replace those who had retired and those who died while in active service and appealed to Presidential candidates to pay attention to Islamic education if they win power. Sheikh Alhassan also appealed to the GES to make Arabic an examinable subject as it is with the French language since Arabic speakers in the country outnumber French speakers.

GNA