Settle payments for tablets procured under Free SHS program - Minority

The Ranking Member for Education in Parliament, Peter Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe, has called on the government to settle outstanding payments to suppliers of tablets under the Free SHS program.

He said that the government has failed to pay for over 1,350,000 tablets that have been procured.

Speaking at a conference in Parliament on August 22, 2024, Nortsu-Kotoe expressed concern over the discrepancies in the number of tablets reported.

“At the launch of the manifesto, they indicated 900,000 tablets were to be provided to SHS students as part of the Free SHS policy. However, I later heard another figure of 90,000 tablets being mentioned. We in the NDC agreed to this project, but when you undertake such a large-scale initiative without any budgetary allocation, it creates problems for the suppliers. As we sit here, we know that 1,350,000 tablets were procured, and the supplier had to secure a loan in a dollar-denominated cedi. The payment has been delayed for a long time, and we don’t understand why the government is refusing to pay,” he said.

Nortsu-Kotoe also urged the government to publish a list of students and schools that have benefited from the tablets, noting that schools in his constituency have not received any.

"Our concern here is why the government is refusing to pay for the tablets, which is damaging the businesses of the suppliers. We also want to know how many schools have received the tablets so far and how many students have benefited. You can't keep boasting about these tablets when I know that schools in my constituency, as well as those in the Builsa South constituency have not received any," he added.

During the launch of the NPP manifesto, the NPP Flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, announced that 900,000 free student tablets had been distributed across the country.

These tablets, fully funded by the GETFund, are part of the government’s Smart School Project, which aims to digitise all sectors of the country.



NAY/AE

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