The NDC Constituency Communications Officer for Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, Dennis Andaban, has rejected claims that the John Dramani Mahama-led government is responsible for the Catholic Church’s exclusion from the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council.
Denis Andaban, who is aspiring to become the Upper West Regional Communications Officer of the NDC, said the controversy over the Catholic Church’s representation on the GES Council dates back to the amendment of the Education Act under the immediate past NPP administration.
His comments follow concerns raised by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, over the Church’s absence from the GES Council and calls for the Ministry of Education to address the matter.
While acknowledging the Catholic Church’s significant contribution to education in Ghana, Andaban said attempts to turn the issue into a partisan political matter risk distorting the facts.
He cited Catholic educational institutions in the Upper West Region, including St. Francis of Assisi Girls’ SHS, St. Francis Minor Seminary, Nandom SHS, Queen of Peace SHS, and McCoy College of Education, as evidence of the Church’s longstanding contribution to education.
According to him, the Catholic Mission therefore has a legitimate interest in national education policy and its concerns should be taken seriously.
In a statement issued and copied to 3news, Andaban said the composition of the GES Council changed following the revision of the Education Act between 2020 and 2022.
He said Education Act, 2020 (Act 1049) altered the composition of the Council, resulting in the removal of specific statutory representation previously provided for the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana.
He said when the new GES Council was inaugurated in May 2022, neither organisation had representation on the Council.
The development, he noted, prompted the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana to issue a joint communiqué on May 25, 2022, protesting their exclusion.
“Despite these calls, the government could not resolve the issue,” he stated.
He added that the Catholic Bishops raised the matter again in 2025, criticising their exclusion from the Council despite the Church’s substantial role in education.
The communications officer said the latest concerns raised by Most Rev. Gyamfi in August 2026 before Parliament’s Chieftaincy, Culture and Religious Affairs Committee should therefore not be interpreted as a new decision by the current government.
“It is clear that it is not the NDC government under John Dramani Mahama that has removed the Catholic Mission from the Council,” he said.
He accused some elements of the NPP of using the Bishop’s concerns for political point-scoring and creating the impression that the current administration had recently sidelined the Catholic Church.
According to him, the historical record shows that the change in the composition of the GES Council occurred under the previous NPP government, with the Catholic Bishops subsequently raising concerns about the decision.
Andaban also sought to distinguish the loss of statutory representation on the GES Council from the Catholic Church’s continued involvement in managing its educational institutions.
He said the Church had not been removed from managing its own schools, stressing that the 1999 Partnership Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding between the state and the missions remain in force.
“What has changed is that the Catholic Bishops and the Christian Council no longer have a statutory seat on the Council where national education policy decisions are made,” he said.
He called for the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops to be addressed on their merits rather than being used as a vehicle for partisan political attacks.
He urged the Ministry of Education and other relevant stakeholders to engage the Church and other faith-based education providers to find a lasting solution to the representation concerns.
“We must listen to the concerns and do something urgent about them,” he said.
By Ibrahim Abubakari Wangara
