Desperate Mahama wants to associate himself with successful Free SHS - Richard Ahiagbah

Executive Director of Danquah Institute, Richard Ahiagbah has tongue-lashed the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama for riding on the success of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy rolled out by the governing New Patriotic Party to score political points.

According to him, it is surprising to see John Dramani Mahama make a u-turn of the Free SHS policy after making several allegations that the programme was costly and wouldn't be effective.

The NDC flagbearer in his manifesto launch promised to extend the Free SHS programme to private schools when voted back into power.

Reacting to this, the Danquah Institute boss described Mahama as a hypocrite who wants to associate himself with the successful educational programme implemented by the Akufo-Addo led government.

Mr Ahiagbah while addressing the media at a press conference Wednesday, November 25, 2020, said “Interestingly, former president Mahama in 2019 while addressing an audience in UCC on the theme ‘State of education in Ghana,’ expressed concern over the investment of GHC2 billion in the free SHS programme to the detriment of the other equally important to other sectors of the economy. It is therefore baffling that a party that resisted and bemoaned the high cost of the implementation of the Free SHS would suddenly seek to extend it to several other beneficiaries when doing so would automatically increase the cost of the programme.

“We find the contradictions in the NDC’s position hypocritical and can only interpret their current position as a desperate attempt to associate with the successful implementation of the Free SHS programme for political gain,” he averred.

The Danquah Institute boss emphasised that the promise by the NDC to extend the Free SHS programme to private educational institutions an indirect admission that the programme has been largely successful.