The youth wing of the opposition New Patriotic Party has described as a misplaced priority the distribution of tea cups with the president's picture to school children. The group say the distribution of the cups is an indication the government has "lost total focus and does not put any premium on the need to tackle the most relevant problems and challenges that confront the educational sector." This was contained in a statement issued in Accra at the weekend. Below is the full statement issued and signed by the NPP National Youth Organiser, Anthony Karbo. PRESS RELEASE The Youth Wing of the New Patriotic Party, wish to express our uttermost shock and disgust at the decision by the Mills-led ruling National Democratic Congress government to create an image for President Mills by wasting the tax payers’ money in producing the President’s photographs and cups embossed with his pictures for distribution to schools and school children in the country. We deem this project as an absolute misplaced priority and a useless agenda being undertaken by a government that has clearly lost total focus and does not put any premium on the need to tackle the most relevant problems and challenges that confront the educational sector. We are particularly aghast that a government headed by an educationist of professorial standing thinks this is the best way to expend the nation’s resources at the time the educational sector is crying for serious attention in many facets. The School Feeding Programme is in a complete mess; some school children still learn under trees; the promise to provide school uniforms for all school children remains unfulfilled; accommodation problems continue to bedevil both second cycle and tertiary institutions while teachers at all levels continue to complain about inadequate supply of Teaching-Learning Materials required for effective and efficient delivery of quality education. Yet, the government that claims to care for the people thinks it makes more sense to waste the nation’s limited resources to imprint the image of the President on the minds of pupils and students in the country by making photographs of the President available to the schools. It is a pity – and even shameful – that this is what the NDC government considers to be the best reaction to the inability of pupils to identify Prof Mills as the President of the country. We deem this project as a very cheap way of creating an image for the President and making him popular among the nation’s school children who do not have him in mind because they do not see enough concrete things in their communities with which they can associate the non-performing President. We want to further state that it contributes nothing to the nation’s socio-economic development, especially educational development, to waste the tax payers’ money to produce cups embossed with the President’s pictures and distribute them to school children. This project, we are convinced, will only contribute to creating an “artificial” popularity for the President who has failed woefully to deliver or leave a concrete mark for Ghanaian school children to associate him with. We find it very ironic and even hypocritical that a group that condemned the previous Kufuor government over its decision to make some souvenirs including mini-Ghana flags and cups available to Ghanaian school children as part of the Ghana @ 50 celebrations do not see anything wrong with wasting the nation’s money on this useless public relations project for the President. Finally we want to urge the President to deliver the goods in concrete terms for all, including Ghanaian school children, to see as former President did. This is what will leave a concrete legacy that will forever be cherished and remembered and leave his image on the minds of Ghanaian school children. The waste of our resources to create an image for the President and further make him popular among school children is not in the interest of the nation, and needs to be condemned by all who have the interest of the nation at heart. SIGNED: Anthony Abayifaa Karbo National Youth Organizer, NPP 0244204160