Free SHS: I was labelled a ‘liar’ – Akufo-Addo
“When I proposed this policy in 2008, many were those who said Free SHS could not be done. The idea was ridiculed and was described by propagandists as a vote-buying gimmick even though ironically, it did not win me that election,” President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated.
Launching his government’s flagship programme, Free SHS, at the West Africa Secondary School (WASS) in Accra on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said he was branded a “liar” by his political opponents when he first promised a free senior high school education ahead of the 2008 elections.
“I was labelled a liar by my opponents who went on to state that Free SHS could only be possible in 20 years’ time. Nonetheless, the Ghanaian people were discerning and believed it was possible. The culminations of that believe inter alia resulted in the decisive victory won by the New Patriotic Party and myself in the elections of 2016,” he said.
“I made the pledge of providing every Ghanaian child with access to senior high school because I know the privilege, the knowledge and talents are not for the rich and privileged alone and that free education widens the gates of opportunities to every child especially those whose talents are arrested because of poverty.”
“A government may not be able to make every citizen rich but with political will and responsible leadership, a government can help create a society of opportunities and empowerment for every citizen and I know no better way to do so but through access to education.”
