President John Dramani Mahama’s ministerial nominees for three key sectors of the economy were vetted by the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Monday, January 20, 2025.

The nominees vetted were the Minister of Education-designate, Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Roads and Highways-designate, Kwame Governs Agbodza, and Minister of Food and Agriculture-designate Eric Opoku.

The three nominees, who are members of Parliament, were bombarded with questions on the campaign promises of President Mahama and their feasibility.

They also had to answer questions on some pronouncements they made on their respective sectors during the era of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as well as some personal questions.

Here are the top 3 issues each of the three nominees touched on:

Minister of Education-designate Haruna Iddrisu:

1. Free SHS:

The Minister of Education-designate reaffirmed President Mahama’s commitment to reviewing the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy implemented by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

Haruna Iddrisu clarified that the government has no plans of cancelling the Free SHS policy, highlighting plans to make the initiative more sustainable and broaden its scope, ensuring greater benefits for Ghanaians.

“Let me assure this committee that President John Dramani Mahama has no option to cancel Free SHS. Therefore, those who listen to him, even in the course of his campaign, he has stated that he will expand Free SHS.

“It was to tell Ghanaians that as President of the Republic, he wants to give meaning to Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution and Article 38, which spells out the objective of our educational policy. Chair, the important thing is that he will subject the Free SHS to a review,” he said.

2. No Fee Stress:

Haruna Iddrisu disclosed that the “No Fee Stress Policy” Mahama promised, which aims to take away the stress of paying academic user fees by students by paying their academic user facility fees, will not cover professional courses such as medicine.

He stated that the budget will include an allocation of GH¢345 million to cover admission fees for students pursuing courses in general subject areas, excluding professional courses like medicine.

"On the authority of President Mahama, I am confident that his Minister of Finance will present the revised budget of the government. This will include a provision of GH¢345 million to cover admission fees for students undertaking courses in general subject areas, excluding professional programmes like medicine," he explained.

Haruna Iddrisu further noted that the president views this initiative as a pilot programme, which could be expanded depending on the state of the economy.

He added, "For President Mahama, this is a pilot model to experiment with. We will assess its impact as a country. If expansion is feasible, then it will be considered. The President has also made it clear that those who are financially able should not depend on this initiative."

The minister-designate also stated that first-year students who would be going to school this year would be reimbursed their academic user fees when the implementation of the policy starts.



3. Loss of Minority Leader position:

Haruna Iddrisu, who is the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, was forced to open up about losing the Minority Leader position in 2023 after a question by the current Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.

The Tamale South legislator stated that he harbours no hard feelings about losing the position and disclosed that President Mahama called him to inform him about the decision of the party to reshuffle its parliamentary leadership.

“I took it very easy when I was told that there would be a reshuffle of the minority. I believe I got a call while I was entering Joy FM for a major interview from President Mahama, and he indicated to me that, Haruna, I would call you shortly to discuss an important matter.

“If I remember correctly, I think it was PM Express… If you look at President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address, the last one, I should be encouraged. I mean, he admitted that he suffered an effective opposition in the hands of Haruna Iddrisu and the likes of our MPs,” he said.

The former minority leader, who served in the role for over 7 years, went on to indicate how proud he was of his achievement in the role; stating that leading the NDC Minority Caucus to have Speaker Alban Bagbin elected was one of his most defining acts.



Minister of Roads and Highways-designate Kwame Governs Agbodza:

1. Re-introduction of road tolls

Kwame Governs Agbodza announced that the John Dramani Mahama government will not be putting up toll booths for the re-introduction of road tolls, stating that the government would be relying on technology for the collection of the tolls when they are re-introduced.

He said that there would be no physical structures on the roads for the collection of the tolls; adding that the use of technology would not only ensure efficiency in the collection of the tolls but would also ensure accountability.

“Yes, the road toll is coming back, but not in the form of building obstructions on the road for drivers to stop and somebody taking money from them. It will be coming back based on a technological platform that makes it fair and that makes it easy to collect, easy to account for and for the public to know what the money is actually being used for.

“Together with the minister, we shall come out with a policy as to how that will be done,” he said while answering a question on the tolls being reintroduced.

2. Actual kilometres of road constructed by Akufo-Addo:

The roads minister-designate also disclosed the actual amount of new roads constructed by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

Former President Akufo-Addo, while in office, claimed that his government had constructed an unprecedented 11,000 kilometres of new roads since 2017.

However, Agbodza stated that the records the Akufo-Addo government handed over to the John Dramani Mahama administration showed that the previous government constructed less than 700 km of new roads.

“He made us aware of a certain figure of new roads at that time. It wasn't pleasant to try to contradict the president because his sources of information are better than mine. But the figure 11,000 km just jumped out as new roads. And my side said that was a bit less than the truth. Since then, the agencies under the road ministry attempted to adjust the figure. And you remember our view was that only 617 km of roads were new roads at that time.

“At the transition, they provided details. At the time of the transition, the new roads constructed were 673 km, which is not far from the 617 km we talked about at that time, because it means that a few more routes have been completed. So, that issue is in the record of Parliament that indeed Ghana did not construct 11,000 km of new roads since 2017. Rather, 673 km have been constructed as new roads."

He added, “The bulk of the work in the 13,624.25 km is re-gravelling and gravelling - that is 6,185.90 km. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”



3. Ghana’s debt in the road sector:

Kwame Agbodza also gave details of the debts accumulated by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration in the road sector.

According to the minister-designate, the Akufo-Addo government left behind unpaid road construction certificates worth GH¢20 billion. He indicated that the interest composition of the debts is more than 100% of the actual amount the state owes.

"The NPP government is leaving a minimum of GH¢100 billion commitment. What you should be worried about though is that in that same document, they are saying that certificates unpaid as of today from GoG amount to about GH¢20 billion. The ones with road fund is about GH¢15 billion.

“What you should be more worried about, my brothers and sisters and colleagues listening to us from outside of this hall is that if you take the indebtedness up to 2025 which is the road fund debt alone out of the 15 billion,” he said at his vetting on Monday, January 20, 2025.

Kwame Agbodza went on to give a breakdown of the debts as follows:

“In 2018, we were owing about GH¢113 million, the interest on the GH¢113 million this year will be GH¢665 million - the debt was GH¢113 million, and the interest on the GH¢113 million is GH¢665 million. When you take 2019, GH¢210 million. The interest on the GH¢210 million is GH¢960 million. In 2020, we were owing GH¢424 million. The interest on the GH¢424 million is 1.5 billion. In 2021, the debt was GH¢616 million. The interest on that is currently GH¢1.69 billion. In 2022, GH¢693 million and currently GH¢1.4 billion.”



Minister of Food and Agriculture-designate Eric Opoku:

1. Cocoa Production:

The agriculture minister-designate touched on a number of issues regarding the country’s cocoa production, including the decline in the country’s production level.

“Just recently during the transition engagement, COCOBOD submitted a list to us. In that document, they indicated that their production was 530 metric tonnes. In this case, both of you are right. But whether it is 430 or 530 metric tonnes, both are right. But production has declined and that is the lowest in the last two decades,” he said.

He indicated that because of the decline in the production level, Ghana defaulted on a syndicated loan of $800 million, taken to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa.

2. Ghana’s poultry sector:

Eric Opoku also raised serious concerns about Ghana’s poultry industry, describing it as an industry “in crisis.”

He went on to outline a comprehensive plan to revitalise it under the “Poultry Farm to the Table Programme,” which is aimed at supporting poultry farmers by providing financial resources to expand their businesses and increase production.

“To revamp the poultry sector, we have outlined a programme in our manifesto called the ‘Poultry Farm to the Table Programme.’ Under this initiative, we aim to collaborate with poultry farmers’ associations, providing them with the necessary financial resources to expand their businesses and increase production,” he said.

He identified the high cost of poultry feed as a major challenge and pledged to prioritise the production of affordable feed to ease the burden on farmers.

3. Youth in agriculture:

The minister-designate indicated that one of the topmost priorities of the Mahama government would be making agriculture appealing to the youth of Ghana.

To achieve this, he proposed a government-led initiative to acquire land from landowners, prepare it for agricultural purposes, and hand it over to farmers.

“We intend to acquire the land, prepare it for agricultural purposes, and then hand it over to prospective investors so that we can increase production and drive our nation towards food sufficiency,” he explained.



BAI/EK

You can also watch as Afenyo-Markin puts Haruna Iddrisu's Twi proficiency to the test in fun vetting moment