Ghana’s Ambassador to Czech Republic caution against NPP’s free SHS policy

Ghana’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Professor Samuel Quartey has cautioned Ghanaians against the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) ploy of offering free Senior High School (SHS) when it wins power in the 2012 Election.

Prof Quartey who was launching the Gomoa West National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaign at Gomoa Eshiem said the nation needed to put in place many things including classroom and dormitory infrastructure, science laboratories, libraries, and training of teachers first.

“For the NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo to fix September 2013 as the time of starting the free SHS programme raises doubt about his sincerity of making the programme a success,” he said.

The Ambassador asked: “How successful is the basic education on which the SHS is going to be built? A building with a weak foundation cannot stand,” and appealed to the NPP not to compound the serious problems facing Ghana’s educational system by rushing to introduce the free SHS policy. “Fear the Greeks, even if they offer gifts,” Mr Quartey said and urged the Ghanaian electorate to reject the NPP’s ploy by voting against them.

Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, Gomoa West District Chief Executive urged the Ghanaian electorate to be wary about the campaign of deceit the NPP had embarked upon.

He said its flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo kept promising Ghanaians with a lot of free items without considering the state of the country’s economy. “Free SHS, free NHS for the youth below 18 years, free accommodation for head porters (Kayayie) and many more,” the DCE said.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah urged Ghanaians to accept the decision of the government to introduce the free SHS which was a constitutional demand, through a gradual process by first ensuring access to SHS facilities and increasing the Capitation grant to reduce the pressure on parents.

He said the NDC had done enough to win the confidence of the electorate to retain it in power. The DCE cautioned supporters of the party against allowing complacency to set in but must rather double their efforts to win more votes for the party to make victory a certainty.

Mr Francis Kojo Arthur, Member of Parliament and the NDC candidate for Gomoa West appealed to the electorate not to allow money and gifts from politicians to influence their voting patterns, cautioning them against selling their votes.