Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has disputed claims by flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that his government started implementation of the free Senior High School policy.
John Dramani Mahama, while rubbishing assertions that he will cancel the Free SHS policy if he becomes president, claimed he initiated the policy, arguing that he cannot abolish what he started.
But in a post on social media, the investigative journalist refuted the former president’s claim.
According to him, when Nana Akufo-Addo, then leader of the NPP, made the pledge to implement the policy if he was elected in the 2008 elections, the NDC vehemently opposed it, arguing that they would rather focus on improving access and quality of education instead of aiming to make it free.
“Akufo-Addo stayed on his Free SHS but lost the 2008 election. He kept faith in it and lost in 2012,” he stated.
He said when the NDC and its leader realized Nana Akufo-Addo was not backing down on his promise, “they decided to cripple that policy by implementing something that was an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians”.
“This is what the Mahama administration did, and nobody could call that free SHS. When Akufo-Addo took office in 2017, he launched the Free SHS in September of that year. It was the first time secondary education in Ghana was truly free in recent history”.
He added,“Mahama and the NDC cannot claim Free SHS”.
The investigative journalist argued that although there are challenges with the implementation of the policy, “Free SHS is one political promise that has been implemented with admirable sincerity”.
