Former Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka has accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of taking Ghanaians for a ride following the revelation that it intends to use the Heritage Fund to run the Free Senior High School (SHS) education policy to be operation in September this year.
According to him the NPP deceived Ghanaians into thinking that they wielded the magic wand and had the best of brains to secure funding to operationalize the Free SHS policy, on the basis on which Ghanaians elected them to power, only to find out they are yet to come up with the source of funding for the policy.
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo, on Tuesday hinted that the free SHS campaign pledge of the president would be funded from the Heritage Fund.
The Heritage Fund is a strategic endowment reserve established to “support the development for future generations when Ghana’s petroleum reserves have been depleted”, according to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act of 2011.
The fund receives nine per cent of the country’s annual petroleum revenue. The Petroleum Act also provides that 21 per cent of annual oil revenues should go into a Stabilisation Fund- to support the economy in dire times – while 70 per cent should be used to support the budget.
But speaking on Joy FM Thursday, Hon. Cletus Avoka strongly kicked against the use of the Heritage Fund to run the Free SHS policy said government must move away from looking for an easy options out of a difficult task.
“It does not lay within one party to use Free SHS as a campaign tool and use it to win an election and then come and say that we’re going to fund Free Education from the Heritage Fund…then every party should have said so. It should have been a national decision whether NDC, NPP or CPP comes to power they will use the Heritage Fund to fund education and then we would have appreciated that and know how to vote. But to say that you have the Financial and Economic wizards…you know how to turn the economy around and get money to fund Free Education, and now come to say that you’re likely to rely on the Heritage Fund, I think is unfortunate and taking Ghanaians for a ride.”
Source:kasapafmonline.com
