[ad_1]
A few months ago, I predicted that Free SHS politics will dominate the 2020 election campaign, and I was right.
“The introduction of Free SHS was not based on a pompous political agenda to take over the social democratic narratives of those who, surprisingly, have avoided their ideology for quick wins (Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta 2019).”
Some of us, as it were, are extremely surprised to hear Mahama say forcefully, “We started the program and the NPP came and continued it. Unfortunately, the implementation has been very poor, so it ended up in two ways. “
Apparently, during the 2016 election campaign, former President Mahama was captured on tape that vehemently broadcast: “Hey! That Ghana should not introduce Free SHS on the whimsical promise of a desperate politician. ” “Many countries in Africa have already made a lot of mistakes with Free SHS.”
“The government has budgeted 2 billion CDs for free SHS for this academic year.” “If you have 2 billion more to spend on education, would you spend it all on SHS for free, so that even when people can pay, they don’t have to pay?”
It was therefore not surprising that Akufo-Addo expressed his amazement: “Yesterday I heard something that surprised me. The former president declared that my promise to initiate the free SHS policy was false and just a ploy to mislead Ghanaians. He was strongly against the policy and claimed that if he had the money to implement that policy, he would use it for something else. He also said that it will take Ghana years to implement it, but now he says he started Free SHS, and it’s amazing. “
Somehow, in the early stages of policy implementation, skeptics moved heaven and earth to discredit the policy implementation in order to get cheap political points.
But some of us, in principle, fight tooth and nail and deflate any vile propaganda aimed at overthrowing the poverty alleviation policy.
Indeed, NDC operatives unabashedly sponsored countless advertisements and campaigned against the Free SHS poverty reduction policy during the 2016 election campaign.
So it came as a big surprise to some of us when NDC 2020 flag bearer John Dramani Mahama and his many supporters are doing everything they can to claim ownership of the Free SHS policy. How ironic?
In fact, it would only take a hesitant Thomas to question the fact that the NDC faithful, who pride themselves on Social Democratic ideology, are not dedicated to promoting the welfare of the masses.
One would have thought that individuals who pride themselves on being Social Democrats will be extremely empathetic to the needs of the masses, but this is not the case with the NDC as a party.
The fact that the NDC has a penchant for reducing or canceling crucial social interventions cannot be denied or ignored. It is a sad case of social democrats who do not know how to initiate and manage social interventions.
In fact, the former NDC government intentionally canceled / collapsed the Nurse Subsidy, Teacher Subsidy, SADA, GYEEDA, NHIS, Maternity Care, School Feeding Program, Mass Transit System, among others.
Under the circumstances, it will not be a surprise at all if the future NDC government decides to cancel the Free SHS entirely.
Since the beginning of the Fourth Republican Constitution, the self-proclaimed Social Democrats have been opposing the social interventions that have been proposed by successive PNP governments such as Free Maternal Care, NHIS, Metro Mass Transport, the School Feeding Program, the Livelihoods Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), Free SHS, among others.
Therefore, it is fair to emphasize that the faithful of NDC do not feel like SHS Comprehensively Free, and therefore move heaven and earth to discredit the implementation of poverty alleviation policies.
Indeed, the attitude of the opposition NDC agents towards the implementation of Free SHS should be a wake-up call for the most demanding Ghanaians.
Sometimes one cannot help but admire some of our politicians for their incredible prowess in the systematic propaganda spread.
However, let’s admit that the endless display of hypocrisy from NDC loyalists is mind-boggling.
What is most pleasing to some of us is that the Free SHS Social Mobility Enhancement Policy will provide at least a solid and enjoyable environment for students to develop to their full potential and have a reasonable opportunity to lead productive and creative lives.
However, we cannot guarantee the sustainability of the free SHS policy, should Ghanaians make a terrible mistake and return the free SHS poverty alleviation program to the NDC in the near future.
Our fears stem from the fact that since the implementation of the free SHS policy by the PNP government, minority NDC operatives have gained momentum and have held countless press conferences in order to discredit the implementation of the policy.
Somehow minority NDC operatives prefer “progressively free” (whatever that means) to NPP completely free.
In fact, unless it looks like the worst performance in math, I can’t understand how and why the NDC GH48 per student is better than the NPP GH1844.27 per student.
Whatever the case, some of us cannot accept the somewhat sophisticated argument of minority NDC operatives that sponsoring some students through their progressive SHS amounted to introducing Free SHS.
Well, they may choose to discredit the Free SHS policy, but the fact is that the policy will pay them huge benefits in the long run.
Frankly, the vast majority of Ghanaians will benefit greatly from the policy, including my maternal uncle, Oliver, a staunch supporter of the NDC, who had previously criticized the Free SHS poverty alleviation.
But despite my Uncle Oliver’s unnecessary and never-ending pessimism, he is likely to make tremendous profits and will probably refuse to back Mahama to cancel such an advantageous policy.
Apparently, reliable sources say that the government will spend a staggering amount of GH5532.83 over a three-year period on each student.
So my uncle Oliver, who has three of his children at SHS, will pocket no less than GH16598.49 for three years.
Who then can persuade my maternal uncle to turn down such a juicy offer and vote for the unrepentant critic of the Free SHS who is willing to quit politics?
It is quite unfortunate to witness how some Ghanaians could easily give in to the vague rhetoric and vile propaganda of manipulative politicians designed to further their vested interests.
My maternal uncle, in fact, was among the millions of impoverished Ghanaians who were brainwashed by cunning and manipulative politicians into rejecting the Free SHS poverty intervention offer during the 2016 election campaign.
Let’s face it though, if everyone else had voted the same way Uncle Oliver did, I’m not sure his three children would have benefited from any free SHS.
For my part, I do not anticipate that Uncle Oliver and others like it will benefit from the Free SHS policy if Ghanaians make a terrible mistake and return the Free SHS poverty alleviation policy to the NDC government in the future. next.
Clearly, former President Mahama and his staunch supporters are desperately trying to reclaim ownership of the Free SHS poverty alleviation, albeit to the utter chagrin of well-meaning Ghanaians.
K. Badu, UK.
[email protected]
