John Mahama
The Flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama in a desperate bid to woo voters is claiming that the Free Senior High School (Free-SHS) programme was implemented by his NDC government in 2015.
Mr Mahama claimed to have started progressively free SHS for day students with GHC38 per student but never paid any of the bills leaving accumulated school fees arrears for the current administration to settle.
The NDC flagbearer on several platforms had insisted that Ghana was not ready for free education only to turn round to claim ownership of the programme after gauging the overwhelming acceptability.
He said the current government poorly implemented the programme, which compelled them to adopt the double track system, “I assure you my country men, that within one year, I will cancel the double track.”
“We started the programme and the NPP came and continued it. Unfortunately the implementation has been very poor, and so it ended us in double track,” Mr Mahama stressed at Tuobong, a community in the Tempane District of the Upper East Region.
The Flag bearer, who is also a former President, is on a three-day campaign tour of the Region to galvanise votes in the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
He said when voted back into government, “All the Community Day Schools we were building, 200 of them, we are going to finish them so that all the children can get schools to attend.
“With the Community Day Schools we are building, we are going to add dormitory blocks for girls and boys so that those who don’t come from the community where the school is sited, if they choose that school and they are posted there, they will be able to get a decent place to live and learn.”