Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, also known as Napo, has said he was brought up to sit at the table with decision makers.
The NPP vice presidential candidate for the 2024 election revealed that he was brought up in a very politically aware family with a history of decades of partisan politics.
According to Napo, he was brought up to cherish one thing, public service, and not only public service, but bringing value through public service.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Personality Profile, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh revealed, “I would say that is how I was brought up. I was brought up in a very politically aware family with a history of decades of partisan politics or active political life.”
“I was brought up to cherish one thing, public service, and not only public service, but bringing value through public service and for public service, meaning you just don’t participate. You participate in terms of regular impact.”
“That is how I was brought up, brought up to prove myself that I can sit at the table with decision makers, and not only the elderly, but a true decision maker.”
He added, “So brought up by grand uncles and uncles far older than myself, whose children were far older than me, and I served all of them, so that’s how I was brought up.”
“So me growing up, having public service has been a duty that has been imprinted in my heart, mind, and everything I do, so even deciding to belong to which associations growing up were all the associations that brought public service to the fore.”
Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh further recounted his early years joining the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross Society.
The former education minister narrated, “Like joining Boy Scouts at a very early age, be an altar boy. Not only that, joining the Red Cross Society, going to do medicine and public service.”
“The only difference is that some public service duties are very, very small, personal, but really impactful, and some are large and maybe impactful.”
“So being a doctor, you are serving one person at a time, and it could be very, very impactful for somebody who needs surgery, who is dying in agony, and you go in and you repair a strangled hernia or a rotten appendix or something, and you relieve his frustration. He sleeps well, and it brings a lot of joy to your heart and everything”, he stated.
Napo under investigation for causing ¢63m financial loss
Meanwhile, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, in few weeks ago, confirmed he is under investigation for an allegation of causing a ¢63 million financial loss.
Napo confirms that the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) is investigating his time in office.
According to Ghana Chronicles, Napo is under investigation for the controversial 2019 sole-sourced contract for 853,000 mathematical sets, costing over ¢63M, of which none were delivered to WASSCE students.
The contract was awarded to Bluegrass Group Ltd via sole source and included a $3.6M tax waiver.
Speaking in a viral video shared on X, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh stated, “As for accountability, nobody can escape it. People don’t know that I’ve been invited by the NIB to assist in investigations into some issues during my time at the Ministry of Education. I couldn’t have declined that invitation.
In fact, I have been to the NIB twice. I’ve forgotten some of the issues; I can’t remember everything that happened while I was in the office. That is why we have technocrats and others who assist in running the ministry and keep records. For the issues I clearly remember, I spoke to them during the invitation”.
He added, “I always say that those of us in politics should know that no condition is permanent. Today, you can be in power; the next day, you could be in opposition.
So, politicians in power should always be mindful of what they do with the authority entrusted to them so that if they are asked to account for their stewardship tomorrow, they can easily do so. I have spent my whole day today at the NIB, and I may go there again tomorrow.”
