NPP never promised to construct 350 senior high schools - NPP MP

The Member of Parliament for Jaman North, Siaka Stephen, has shockingly denied the promise by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to construct 350 day senior high schools.

He told host of Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, Kwabena Agyapong that, the party never had that promise in its manifesto.

His comments is not only surprising but a sharp contradiction to the promise made by the former Communications Director of the NPP Nana Akomea is 2016.

Nana Akomea at the time told the media that it will build 350 day Senior High Schools (SHS) from 2017 if the party wins power in this year’s general elections.

The construction of 200 day SHS was a major component of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s campaign message prior to the 2012 polls.

But the NPP criticised the government for failing to deliver on that promise.

Nana Akomea told Joy News’ Kwakye Afreh-Nuamah his party had a grand strategy to make this promise a reality.

“This whole idea of John Mahama saying I will build 200 schools was in reaction to Nana Addo’s plan to build 350-day schools as part of the free SHS agenda. So John Mahama also brought this thing that I am also going to build schools, it wasn’t part of their initial plan,” he said.

Although he was unable to tell the time frame in which these schools will be built, he said within the first four-years of the Akufo-Addo’s administration, a large number of the schools would have been built.

Each school building he announced was expected to cost ?3.5 million.

But Mr Siaka Stephen who is also the Chairman for the Parliament select committee on Education says the promise was not a manifesto promise but was a personal opinion of Nana Akomea.

When he was confronted with question of the party lying to Ghanaians he insisted the party never made that promise and so Ghanaians should treat that promise as a political opinion of a party member.