The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has once again taken a swipe at the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama following the latter’s recent promises on the Free Senior High School policy.
President Akufo-Addo lambasted Mahama saying he has ‘zero’ credibility when it comes to implementation of policies hence cannot be trusted to sustain the ongoing free SHS programme.
“He [John Mahama] couldn’t even implement the NDC’s ‘so-called’ free progressive free education and for that matter, he cannot be trusted on the Free SHS policy. We have no reason to believe NDC’s presidential candidate newly proclaimed convention to Free TVET and Free SHS. For 8 years, he and his party were loud in their assertions that they did not believe in Free SHS and Free TVET. They did not like the idea, they rubbished it at every opportunity and they proclaimed that it will destroy Ghana’s educational system.”
“When they were in office, they had a hard time trying to run their even watered-down version of their so-called progressively Free education. The then-president Mahama said he will review it and now we hear him say, it has come to stay. Your Excellency, please try another one. Your credibility on this one is zero. Free SHS and Free TVET cannot be trusted in your hands,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo made these comments at the launch of the NPP’s 2020 manifesto in the Central Region on Saturday, August 22, 2020.
Mahama’s promise on Free SHS
Mr. Mahama during a visit to the Overlord of Dagbon, Yaa-Naa Abukari II, on Saturday, August 2020, debunked claims that he will abolish the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme being implemented by the governing NPP if he comes to power.
“Free Senior High School education has come to stay. If anybody tells you that I, John Dramani Mahama, son of E.A Mahama will abolish Free SHS when I come, tell the person he is a bloody liar. What I am against is the poor implementation of the Free SHS which is creating great inconvenience for the parents, for the students and for the teachers and the point I have made is that we can make it better.”
“If this government had followed our plan of continuing with the 200 new Senior High Schools that we were building, we will not have the current situation that we have in our Free SHS plan,” said John Mahama.
