Former President John Mahama, campaigning to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the 2020 elections, says the party would not abolish the free senior high school (SHS) policy if given the mandate to govern.
He said it was not true as being claimed by some people that he “is against the policy”.
What he disagreed with and found completely unacceptable, he said, was the double track system.
“I know the benefits of education to the fortunes of development and so NDC would provide the necessary infrastructure to accommodate all students at once.”
The former President said his party started the free SHS programme with day students and was working gradually to provide the required infrastructure to accommodate the students and could therefore not kick against it.
He was addressing members of the NDC in Koforidua as part of his five-day tour of the Eastern Region to woo delegates to their upcoming presidential primaries to give their votes to him.
Mr Mahama warned that the double track arrangement under the free SHS could destroy the quality of the country’s education.
He told the gathering to ignore what he said were unfounded allegations that he owned a hotel in Dubai and had other huge investments abroad.
Again, the government he led, never issued the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah with a diplomatic passport.
Neither does he nor his wife has any investments in the troubled gold trading company.
Mr Mahama who is in the race for the NDC presidential ticket with four others asked the delegates to give their votes to him.
He said he would bring victory to the party in 2020 and that Ghanaians “have regretted” the mistake of voting in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He pledged to work with everybody including his other contestants if elected by the delegates.
“Whoever emerges the winner, we should all support him to wrest power from the NPP.”
GNA