It was an embarrassing scene at the Takoradi Polytechnic on Thursday when Lecturers, to the surprise of everyone, simultaneously hooted at the Deputy Minister of Energy, Kofi Armah Buah, for downplaying the free Senior High School (SHS) policy proposed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr. Armah Buah, who was addressing the Lecturers at the commissioning of petrochemical and hydraulic laboratories at the school, funded by Amatrol, an American Engineering company, could not stand the noisy hoot from the Lecturers and had to abandon his speech midway and leave the school premises.
He was highlighting some of the interventions being made by government to build the capacity of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), which according to him, would enable the GNPC to engage in full scale exploration and production in the long term to enable the country derive a 100 per cent benefit from its oil and gas resources.
According to him, the GNPC as it stands now, does not have enough revenue due to the low percentage it was receiving as a member of the Jubilee Partners, Ghana’s Jubilee Field operators, stating that, that is why it was laughable for anyone to suggest that a percentage from the revenue accruing to GNPC would be used to fund a free SHS policy.
But, the Lecturers did not take his comment likely as they immediately ‘descended’ on him with a heavy hooting, bringing his speech to an abrupt end and subsequently, leaving the school premises.
Meanwhile, his senior colleague, Mr. Lee Ocran, Minister of Education, who recently made similar comments, sat silently on the high table as he watched the embarrassment being poured on his subordinate.
It is now clear that the majority of Ghanaians are buying into the message of the NPP’s flag bearer, to implement the free SHS policy and therefore were determined to crush down any propaganda peddled by pessimists.
Nana Akufo Addo has made it clear that the funding of the free SHS would be sourced from a percentage of the revenue from the GNPC, a percentage from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) and government's annual budget.
