Former President John Dramani Mahama has condemned government’s failure to commission a Technical College of Education situated at Abirem in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region which was constructed during his tenure.

Mr Mahama noted that the Technical College of Education is the second Technical College of Education in the country aimed at training vocational and technical instructors and teachers.

This formed part of efforts by the erstwhile Mahama-led administration to rebuild the country’s technical and vocation educational sector.

Mr Mahama further noted that despite its completion before the NDC exited power, the current Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government has refused to commission the college. 

He indicated that instead, the college has been transitioned into a place of accommodation for military personnel who have been attached to the galamstop operation.

Speaking at Abirim to delegates of the NDC, the flagbearer aspirant urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to commission the college at the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year.

However, Mr Mahama also assured Ghanaians that under the next NDC government, the college will be commissioned immediately it assumes the reins of power to train more tutors and instructors.

He explained: “We will start admission into that technical college of education because we have many Technical schools. When you look around Ghana, we have only one technical college of education so the second one is what we built here.

“So when you go to the secondary technical schools, there are inadequate technical instructors because we have only one college of education producing them.”

The flagbearer aspirant, therefore, called on the military personnel attached to operation galamstop to get ready to vacate the college.

“Galamstop personnel using the facility as accommodation should pack out from the college on 7th January 2025. We will start the admission of the first batch of students when NDC comes into power. 

“But if Akufo-Addo is listening to me and he wants to commission the college then he should do so in 2024 to admit students,” he said.

Currently, the Mampong Technical College of Education in Ashanti region is the only technical college of education out of the 46 public colleges of education in the country.