Free SHS: Don’t use heritage fund, use ABFA – ACEP tells government

African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) has joined calls for government to rescind the decision to finance its flagship free Senior High School policy with petroleum revenues kept in the Heritage Fund.

Head of Policy Unit and Energy Policy Advisor at ACEP, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, asserted that the 70 percent of oil revenues being allocated to the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) can be used to foot the Free SHS policy instead of the Heritage Fund, which only receives 9 percent of petroleum revenues

According to Dr. Ackah government will lay a bad precedence and defeat the purpose of the fund if it goes on with its plan to amend the law in order to tap from the fund set up to support the country’s future generations when the oil reserves are depleted.

This comes at the back of Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, assertion that government will initiate the process of amending the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) to allow government tap into the Ghana Heritage Fund to finance its free Senior High School policy.

Commenting on this at a Graphic Business/ Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting held in Accra, Mr. Osafo Marfo said government will address finance the programme through the country’s Heritage Fund.

“We are going to look at the Heritage Fund and heritage is about the future of our country. We want to introduce free education in the second cycle institutions and it is likely to be funded through the Petroleum Act.