Editor of The Custodian Newspaper, Awudu Mahama, has called on John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to clarify his campaign promise regarding free tertiary education for all first-year students if he wins the upcoming election.
During the launch of the NDC youth manifesto, former President Mahama pledged to review Ghana’s tertiary education funding model and introduce free education for first-year students.
In an interview with Sefa Danquah on the Happy Morning Show, Awudu Mahama criticized the NDC’s approach, stating that the party’s main challenge is not the Electoral Commission (EC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but rather Mahama’s inconsistencies.
He argued that as someone who has led the country before, Mahama’s shifting stance on key educational policies raises concern.
Awudu recalled that during Nana Akufo Addo’s campaign to introduce free Senior High School (SHS) in 2008, which eventually became a reality in 2016, Mahama initially opposed the idea.
At the time, Mahama argued that Ghana should not adopt free SHS because of the difficulties other African countries faced when implementing similar policies. Even after the policy was introduced, Mahama stated that if he had 2 billion Ghana cedis, he would prioritize other sectors over free SHS.
However, Mahama’s current promise to ensure free tertiary education for first-year students contrasts sharply with his previous stance, leading to accusations of inconsistency.
Awudu Mahama called for clearer details, questioning what exactly would be covered under the proposed free education policy.
“We all know the academic user fee is the smallest among the fees paid, so he should specify whether he’s referring to the academic facility user fee, residential fees, departmental fees, or SRC fees,” Awudu noted.
He also pointed out confusion within the NDC itself, as conflicting statements have been made regarding whether the policy would apply to technical universities and colleges of education.
Awudu stressed that these contradictions need to be addressed to avoid further confusion.
SOT….
