Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has narrated how his education was nearly truncated at St. Augustine’s College when he was in senior high school due to poverty.

According to him, but for the support introduced by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, he would have dropped out of school, hence the reason Ghanaians should appreciate the introduction of free SHS by the Akufo-Addo government.

Speaking on the 2023 SoNA debate in parliament on March 9, 2023, he said Akufo-Addo should commend Free SHS despite the current economic hardship the country is facing because the social intervention programme is still running successfully.

“Free SHS has really helped the many who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to benefit from secondary education.

“Mr Speaker, I use myself as an example of how I struggled St Augustine’s College, but for the bursary introduced by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, I wouldn’t have completed St. Augustine’s College to be here serving of Afutu, and I know that thousands of Ghanaians who as a result of poverty could not benefit from secondary education .

"So, therefore, Mr Speaker, if today the chorus is out there’s that government has spent so much, what Mr president is telling Ghanaians is that we have introduced a major social invention program which is in spite of the challenges we face as a country we are still implementing successfully.”

Parliament has commenced the debate after President Akufo-Addo appeared before parliament to give the State of the Nation Address in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

SONA is a constitutional obligation and yearly tradition where the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces reports on the status of the country, unveils the government’s agenda for the coming year, and proposes to Parliament certain legislative measures.

Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana obliges Members of Parliament (MPs), the Speaker of Parliament, and the Judiciary to receive the President’s SONA.



YNA/BOG