“I am very sorry” Second Lady apologises over “chalk” comment

Second Lady, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur

The second lady, Mrs. Matilda Amisah-Arthur, has apologized for retorting sharply when the headmistress of Kukurantumi Presyterian Basic School last Wednesday appealed to government, through her, to help them buy basic teaching and learning materials such as chalk.

The Headmistress, Mrs Juliet Oppong, while thanking the Second Lady for the presentation of five set of computers to the school requested of her to communicate to government to provide some basic things like log books for teachers and chalks which were in short supply in the school.

“The elderly say if you want to communicate something to God, you say it to the wind. We are therefore requesting of you to tell government to try and come to our aide with these things which are in short supply in the school…,” Mrs Oppong humbly appealed.

This did not go down well with the second lady and she retorted:

“I think we have over pampered you people. Because we have provided free school uniforms so parents don’t even want to buy basic things for their children…I will not give you chalk today, neither will I give it to you tomorrow. You have teachers; you have the PTA, go and buy chalk for the school.”

“I will even feel shy to go to Accra and call on the government to come and provide chalk…it would be very difficult for me to do so…,” she added.

The second lady was widely criticized for those comments, some with some people describing the comments as disrespectful. When she got the opportunity to speak at the 40^th Anniversary of Jack and Jill School today, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur apologised.

“The comments I made have been in the media since I made them. When the headmistress asked for chalk, my response was intended to encourage community participation in the school. If I have offended anybody, I take this opportunity to say I am very sorry,” she said.

She told the media present to give her apology the needed prominence.

“Media, I hope you will carry it. You were in Kukurantumi and you did all that so, media, carry it”.