Read NPP Flagbearer Nana Akuffo-Addo’s Open Letter To 13 Year Old Ghanaian Inventor Simon-Peter Frimpong

Simon-Peter Frimpong is the thirteen year old Ghanaian-American who, alongside two other teenagers, presented their innovative invention to US President Barack Obama at a science fair at the White House earlier this week.
NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, has written an open letter to the 13 year old congratulating him on his exploits.
Nana Addo’s letter said Frimpong’s successes can serve as a blueprint for the education we give in Ghana.
“You are an excellent example to the youth of Ghana, your Motherland. Science and Technology must be the centrepiece of the educational system of our country, if we are to make the rapid transformation of our society and economy, that would bring prosperity to the mass of our people.”
That is something easy to say but more difficult to implement, when we are talking about a culture where even prominent figures trash the scientific method all the time in the name of religion.
If we’re ever going to get to such heights, where our thirteen year olds are actually inventors, we’ll have to shed that line of thinking.
Frimpong and his two colleagues, Maya Max-Villard, 13, and Grayson Fast, 14, all of Horizon Middle School in Aurora, Colorado, worked on the project of a new artificial leg they designed using computer designs and 3-D prototypes.
Their invention was apparently inspired by a US Army Veteran who needed a better functioning prosthetic and their design accomplishes just that; allowing the veteran to hike and even skateboard.
Frimpong’s team was one of about 100 top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students invited to the White House Fair and to meet the President.
Read Nana Addo’s letter below…
Dear Simon-Peter,
This is to congratulate you on the honour of being invited by US President, Barack Obama, to participate, as one of the top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students from across the USA, in this year’s White House Science Fair today, April 13.
You and your school mates are to be highly commended for your achievement in building a prosthetic leg that allows amputees to hike, manage uneven terrain, and even skateboard!
You are an excellent example to the youth of Ghana, your Motherland. Science and Technology must be the centrepiece of the educational system of our country, if we are to make the rapid transformation of our society and economy, that would bring prosperity to the mass of our people. This is the commitment of the political party, whose presidential candidate I have the privilege to be and to which your parents also belong, the New Patriotic Party. Indeed, your mother is the 2nd Vice Chairperson of its USA Branch.
I wish you luck in your further education and in all your future endeavours, and hope that you will always remember that you are a Ghanaian.
My warm regards to your parents.
Best wishes.
Yours,
Nana Akufo-Addo