President Akufo-Addo’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy faces extinction in the unlikely event that the opposition NDC’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, succeeds in the 2024 presidential elections. There are cogent reasons behind the potential demise of the pro-poor Free SHS programme should John Mahama win the 2024 elections.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has a long history of dismantling programmes and policies bequeathed to them by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) whenever they come to power.
Oftentimes, the NDC, in opposition, would vehemently resist and protest against such policies, calling on Ghanaians to join them in opposing these initiatives.
They form pressure groups (the Committee for Joint Action, CJA, comes to mind) to oppose policies introduced by the NPP that have the potential to positively affect thousands, if not millions, of Ghanaians.
However, when they come to power, they find it a herculean task to manage these same programmes they fought against whilst in opposition. It is still fresh in our minds how the then opposition NDC fought against President John Agyekum Kufuor’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Led by the late John Evans Atta-Mills and ably supported by his lieutenant, John Mahama, the then opposition party derided the proposition to implement a health insurance policy capable of funding the health needs of Ghanaians in the various districts, municipalities, and metropolises.
They claimed President Kufuor was only building castles in the air with his health insurance idea. Members of Parliament from the Minority side (NDC) even staged a walkout when the bill was being passed in Parliament.
Realising that Kufuor’s Health Insurance would be their nemesis going into the 2008 elections, the NDC promised a one-time premium payment for subscribers. This meant that in one’s lifetime, he or she would pay a certain amount of money once and never need to pay any money to renew the subscription.
That enticing promise mesmerised Ghanaians, leading them to vote for the Mills/Mahama team. Ghanaians later discovered that the NDC had misled them when they were told that a one-time health insurance premium was impossible.
As if that was not enough, the NDC ran down the once robust health insurance scheme entrusted to them by the Kufuor administration. According to Dr Richard Anane, a former Minister of Health under whose tenure the NHIS was implemented, the scheme deteriorated under the NDC administration.
Contributing to the debate on the budget statement on the floor of Parliament at the time, Dr Richard Anane stated, “The NDC was bequeathed the National Health Insurance Scheme in very healthy conditions but what are we seeing today? Today, the cash and carry of the pre-Kufuor days has gained ascendancy and is even being formalised.”
Between 2009 and 2016, the number of NHIS subscribers decreased from 12.5 million to 11.03 million. Under the Akufo-Addo administration, subscribers have increased from 11.03 million to 17.5 million between 2017 and 2024. This indicates that the NPP has performed far better than the NDC. This is a testament to the fact that, but for the NPP coming to power in 2017, the NHIS would have collapsed completely.
What does the above scenario mean? It simply means that right from the outset, the NDC neither believed in the scheme nor understood it. How can one effectively nurture a child she did not give birth to? Since it wasn’t the NDC that introduced the NHIS, they couldn’t manage it well, leading to its near collapse.
Free SHS is in danger as well. Consistently, John Mahama and almost all the top leaders of the NDC have spoken against the programme. It is worth mentioning that the NDC went to court against Free SHS, led by Mahama Ayariga. Here are some of the negative comments made about the policy by these key NDC functionaries:
● President Mahama at an NDC rally in 2016 said: “Free SHS must not be introduced on the whimsical promises of a desperate politician. Many countries on the continent have failed with Free SHS.”
● President Mahama on November 23, 2012, told the people of Okere in the Eastern Region that “Free SHS will collapse the education system of Ghana.”
● President Mahama at UCC in 2016 said, “The Free Senior High School by the NPP is a political gimmick.”
● Former President Mahama at the NDC’s Tarkwa unity walk strongly rejected the Free SHS policy, stating that it is unwise to implement it.
● Mahama on November 25, 2017, stated that “Lalasulala Free SHS will fail.”
● Former President Mahama on his presidential primaries tour said, “Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS is not working.”
● Former President Mahama again on October 1, 2018, reiterated his aversion to Free SHS, stating that it will undergo a review and hinted at the possibility of the policy being scrapped because, to him, it is unthinkable to spend 2 billion Ghana cedis on Free SHS, and that it is seriously constricting the government’s budget.
● The then Minister of Education, Lee Ocran, on 10th September 2012, said, “Free SHS can only be possible in 2032, in 20 years’ time.”
● Mahama Ayariga, on September 26, 2016, said, “Choose Mahama’s education policy; it is better than Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS.”
● Hajia Joyce Zeinabu, then National Women Organiser of the NDC, on 20th November 2016, said, “Free SHS will breed teenage pregnancies.”
● The then General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, is on record to have said on 1st October 2018 that Free SHS is shambolic and that it will have to be scrapped.
● The National Chairman of the NDC, Elder Ofosu Ampofo, also on 18th December 2018, said, “The Double Track system is causing teenage pregnancy.”
● NDC MP for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza, on 19th June 2018, said, “Over concentration on Free SHS is stifling funds meant for flood prevention.”
● Adam Mutawakilu, former NDC MP for Damango, said, “Blame the mysterious deaths at KUMACA on overcrowding as a result of Free SHS.”
● Felix Kwakye Ofosu on 14th May 2018 had this warning for the government: “You can’t use oil money to fund Free SHS.”
● Joshua Akamba to Tempane SHS students: “Reject Akufo-Addo for implementing such a shambolic education system.”
It is more than obvious that Mahama and his followers have a strong aversion towards the Free SHS policy. Moreover, they have never believed in it, just as they never believed in the NHIS when President Kufuor introduced it.
It stands to reason that if these people come to power, they can never manage Free SHS because they have very little knowledge about it and how to make it work effectively.
The NPP administration of President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia birthed Free SHS, midwifed it into the healthy policy it is today, and therefore, can best nurture it in the years ahead. Free SHS will never survive in the hands of these NDC never-do-wells. Mahama will sink the programme if Ghanaians make the mistake of voting for the NDC in the 2024 elections.
By P.K. Sarpong
