Gospel musician Nicholas Omane Acheampong has expressed his reservations about former President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to preserving the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
Acheampong’s doubts stem from Mahama’s initial criticism of the policy when it was first proposed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during their time in opposition.
Despite anticipating criticism for his stance, Acheampong remains unwavering, stating that he has built a resilience against insults, particularly from National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters.
He maintains that his skepticism is justified, given Mahama’s past opposition to the policy.
Acheampong’s comments highlight the ongoing debate about the sustainability of the Free SHS program, with some Ghanaians expressing concerns about the potential consequences of a change in government.
“If I sit aloof as a celebrity thinking about my brand and John Dramani Mahama is brought back as President, we will see that he has cancelled the Free SHS policy. That is why I am not perturbed about Yes, he has said that he will not cancel it but since NPP proposed the policy, you know what he has been saying about it since 2008,” he said on Accra-based Joy FM.
Meanwhile, John Dramani Mahama has given the surest assurance that he will not cancel free SHS. In 2020, he was on record to have said “Free Senior High School education has come to stay. If anybody tells you that I, John Dramani Mahama, son of E.A Mahama will abolish Free SHS when I come, tell the person he is a bloody liar. What I am against is the poor implementation of the free SHS which is creating great inconvenience for the parents, for the students and for the teachers and the point I have made is that we can make it better.”
“If this government had followed our plan of continuing with the 200 new Senior High Schools that we were building, we will not have the current situation that we have in our free SHS plan.”
