Napo joins mission 4.7 high-level advisory group

Minister responsible for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, also known as ‘Napo’, has received another prestigious international recognition for his extraordinary accomplishments when he served as Minister for Education during the first term government of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has officially invited Napo, who doubles as MP for Manhyia South, to serve on its Mission 4.7 High-Level Advisory Group as an Honourary and Meritorious Member.

“This invitation is only extended to those who have extraordinarily to supporting target 4.7 and quality education globally. This membership enables you to still continue your engagement with Mission 4.7 as the new Minister of Energy for Ghana”, part of the invitation letter said.

Mission 4.7 High-Level Advisory Group is a new global initiative to put into practice the bold vision articulated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education and Target 4.7.

Significantly, Dr. Opoku Prempeh has been moved from the Education Ministry to the Energy Ministry the UN SDSN is of the firm belief that he still has more to offer to help promote quality education across the global space.

Napo’s invitation letter to the high-level advisory group is dated June 23, 2021, and it was co-signed by Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the SDSN and Ms. Stefania Gianini, Assistant Secretary-General of UNESCO.

Game Changer Napo

Napo, it would recalled, was appointed as Minister responsible for Education at a time that Ghana’s education sector was virtually on its knees, but he used just four years to totally change the face of the sector, through positive policies and programmes.

Significantly, Napo, against all odds, worked assiduously to help introduce the famous free Senior High School (SHS) social intervention policy, which was the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) topmost campaign message for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary polls.

The introduction of the free SHS policy has seen the student population of the country’s Senior High Schools jumped from 800,000 in 2016 to over 1.2 million by the time he left office in 2021, among other significant achievements at the ministry.

Napo’s positive works has seen him win top awards from several reputable institutions. In May 2021, Dr. Prempeh was conferred with an honourary Doctor of Letters Degree by the University of Education, Winneba.

Also, in 2017 and 2018, he was voted Best Minister of the President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration. He was also the recipient of the 2020 Harvard Ministerial Medal of Achievement, in recognition of his good works.