Flashback: I'll resign if there's evidence Mahama said he'll cancel free SHS - Asiedu Nketia

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress vowed to resign if there was evidence of John Dramani Mahama saying he will abolish Free SHS when elected president.

Speaking on Okay FM, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said John Dramani Mahama has not now, nor has he ever, made the claims attributed to him.

He challenged those who believe otherwise to back their convictions with evidence.

“If President Akufo-Addo or any other Ghanaian can produce a recording, either pictorial or vocal recording of President Mahama saying that he will cancel Free SHS when he comes to power (and we test it as a genuine recording coming from President Mahama), within 24hours I will resign as the General Secretary of the NDC,” he vowed.

He maintained that the Mahama government in three months after winning the 2020 general elections will review the Free Senior High School policy through stakeholders’ engagement to resolve the gulf in the educational structure at the secondary level.

Read the full story originally published on October 15, 2017 on GhanaWeb

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has placed his position on the line should anybody be able to provide a recorded video and audio of former President John Mahama saying he will cancel the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy introduced by President Akufo-Addo.

According to him, the allegation was conceived and hatched by some journalists on the payroll of the Akufo-Addo government.

Speaking on Okay FM’s "Ade Akye Abia" Morning Show, General Mosquito as affectionately called, insisted that former President Mahama never said anywhere that he will scrap the Free SHS policy.

“.....where did former President Mahama said that he will cancel the Free Senior High School when he comes to power? He has never said it anywhere and I dare anybody with evidence to bring it out…I will resign as General Secretary if anybody can come up with video or audio evidence of President Mahama saying he will scrap the free SHS. This is the creation of some journalists who are on the payroll of the Akufo-Addo government,” he asserted.

He maintained that the Mahama government in three months after winning the 2020 general elections will review the Free Senior High School policy through stakeholders’ engagement to resolve the gulf in the educational structure at the secondary level.

He reiterated that the lack of accommodation for the children in the senior high schools is causing teenage pregnancies as parents are forced to rent apartments for their children to live on their own, making the children especially the girls susceptible to bad people to impregnate them.

NDC Will Definitely Abolish Double-Track

Mr Asiedu Nketiah, however, vowed that the double-track system under the free Senior High School Policy will be abolished.

"....the Mahama government will immediately complete the school blocks which the NDC started and furnished them for use.

"...private senior high schools’ owners will be engaged to take up some of the roles in the implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy which is being poorly managed under President Nana Addo," the NDC General Secretary added.

Mahama's Promise

The former President, in December last year, promised to abolish the double track system being implemented for SHSs under the NPP administration if re-elected president in the 2020 elections. He could not fathom why SHS students should be overcrowded while the E-Blocks built under his tenure for the school-children remain abandoned.

"I will also work hard to abolish the double track system by investing in the expansion of school infrastructure such as additional classroom blocks and dormitories, and the completion of the 200 Community Day Senior High Schools to enable all our children attend school at the same time and have adequate contact hours with their teachers".