Former President, John Dramani Mahama<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Former President John Mahama has rebutted what he describes as propaganda by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, saying he has never been against the Free SHS policy.<\/p>\n
He said for someone who implemented Progressively Free SHS for over 350,000 students, he cannot be said to be against free SHS.<\/p>\n
Mr Mahama challenged Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to provide evidence of him ever saying he is against free SHS.<\/p>\n
According to him, just like all well-meaning Ghanaians, he believes \u201cfree SHS must be made better instead of the ad-hoc implementation we are witnessing under the Akufo-Addo administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Below is the statement<\/p>\n
John Mahama remains committed to a better Free SHS programme<\/b><\/p>\n
We have noted yet another propaganda churned out by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to the effect that HE John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer and Leader of the NDC is against free Senior High School (SHS) education.<\/p>\n
This is false. Dr. Bawumia knows very well, in his heart, that he is not telling the truth and for that matter, he is misrepresenting the views of the former President.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mahama has never been against free SHS and nowhere has he ever said free SHS is a bad policy. Certainly, the President who implemented Progressively Free SHS for over 350,000 students cannot be said to be against free SHS. We challenge Dr. Bawumia to provide evidence of the former President ever saying he is against free SHS.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mahama, just like all well-meaning Ghanaians, believes free SHS must be made better instead of the ad-hoc implementation we are witnessing under the Akufo-Addo administration.<\/p>\n
For example, presently the \u2018Double Track System\u2019, which keeps some students at home while others are in school studying remains a major worry to students, parents and many Ghanaians who care about the future of the youth of Ghana.<\/p>\n
In addition, the fate of SHS students when they graduate remains a major concern to many Ghanaians including students, parents, lecturers, Vice Chancellors among others. Even President Akufo-Addo, himself, has admitted to the \u201cchallenges\u201d and has only asked Ghanaians to see beyond the \u201cchallenges\u201d because every programme has \u201cchallenges\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over and above the President, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has also had cause to speak to the challenges of the programme. Will Dr. Bawumia by any stretch of his imagination, suggest that both President Akufo-Addo and Mr. Ken Ofori Atta are \u201ckicking against\u201d the free SHS programme?<\/p>\n
For emphasis, nowhere has former President Mahama ever said he will abandon the free SHS programme. He has been very consistent in his belief that the surest way to sustain the programme requires:<\/p>\n
\u00a7 A wider national stakeholder consultation because wisdom does not reside in the heads of a few;<\/p>\n
\u00a7 Immediate and urgent abolishing of the Double Track System;<\/p>\n
\u00a7 Structured, new and additional application of funds at all levels of education;<\/p>\n
\u00a7 Rapid completion of the remaining Community Day Senior High Schools he initiated;<\/p>\n
\u00a7 Integrated and coherent planning of education at all levels; and<\/p>\n
\u00a7 Aggressive teacher motivation programmes and infrastructure development among others.<\/p>\n
To this end, we wish to underscore the fact that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) record on all-inclusive education does not suggest that we will ever be against any policy that promotes all-inclusiveness in education. We initiated FCUBE, set up the<\/p>\n
GETFund despite numerous contentions from our opponents began the progressively free education policy among others. As a result, the GETFund has been the singular most effective influence on educational expansion and progress in Ghana. Sadly, for the first time in our history, the future of the GETFund has been collateralised due to misuse and abuse by the present government.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the fact that John Mahama has added more to the infrastructure stock of Senior High Schools than any other government aside Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is not in dispute. He provided all these infrastructures and several significant educational deliverables without mortgaging the GETFund as this government has done.<\/p>\n
Therefore, we wish to advice Dr. Bawumia that subjecting free SHS to emotionally charged tribal discussions and sentiments will amount to bigotry. Hence, he must remain civil, circumspect, sensitive and utter words befitting of his new position as Vice President.<\/p>\n
As leaders, it is important that we do not fall for the emotionally charged pressure to be virulent without cause, and even if the Vice President chooses to reduce Ghana\u2019s political discourse to such invective bigotry, let him at least try to be truthful.<\/p>\n
His Excellency John Dramani Mahama remains committed to free SHS. He will make it better and secure the future of the youth of Ghana.<\/p>\n
SIGNED<\/p>\n
Joyce Bawah Mogtari<\/p>\n
Special Aide<\/p>\n
April 23, 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Politics of Wednesday, 24 April 2019 Source: Myjoyonline.com 2019-04-24 play videoFormer President, John Dramani Mahama Former President John Mahama has rebutted what he describes as propaganda by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, saying he has never been against the Free SHS policy. He said for someone who implemented Progressively Free SHS for over 350,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":608700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Politics of Wednesday, 24 April 2019 Source: Myjoyonline.com 2019-04-24 play videoFormer President, John Dramani Mahama Former President John Mahama has rebutted what he describes as propaganda by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, saying he has never been against the Free SHS policy. He said for someone who implemented Progressively Free SHS for over 350,000 […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"headline\":\"‘I’ve never been against free SHS’ \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-24T21:08:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/\",\"name\":\"'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-24T21:08:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/24\\\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Politics of Wednesday, 24 April 2019 Source: Myjoyonline.com 2019-04-24 play videoFormer President, John Dramani Mahama Former President John Mahama has rebutted what he describes as propaganda by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, saying he has never been against the Free SHS policy. He said for someone who implemented Progressively Free SHS for over 350,000 […]","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"headline":"‘I’ve never been against free SHS’ \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia","datePublished":"2019-04-24T21:08:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/"},"wordCount":789,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/","name":"'I've never been against free SHS' \u2013 Mahama to Bawumia - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2019-04-24T21:08:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/24\/ive-never-been-against-free-shs-mahama-to-bawumia\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Mahama](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/20857055.295.jpg\" "\\"Mahama")
play video<\/span>Former President, John Dramani Mahama<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n