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Don't use Heritage Fund for free SHS – ACEP barks at gov't

By MyJoyOnline
General News Don't use Heritage Fund for free SHS – ACEP barks at gov't
FEB 16, 2017 LISTEN

The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has served a stern notice to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to desist from tapping into reserved oil revenue known as Heritage fund to sponsor its free senior high school programme.

The Centre said that although it supports the use of oil revenue in sponsoring NPP’s flagship programme, it would not sanction the use of the Fund.

“The principle of intergenerational equity which informed the establishment of the fund ensure that ownership of the resources is shared among the living and the yet unborn,” ACEP said in a statement released Wednesday.

Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo in an interview with Joy News said government would use the Heritage fund to sponsor the free SHS policy of the government.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had announced last week Saturday that the programme would start coming September, assuring every aspect of education would be provided for free to students.

Although the President’s announcement had triggered some reaction from Ghanaians some of whom believe the programme would suffer because of funds, it was Mr Osafo Maafo’s claim about the use of the Heritage which has drawn sharp criticism from some Members of Parliament and civil society organizations.

Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu told Dzifa Bampoh, host of Joy FM’s Newsnite programme that the future of the unborn generation would be jeopardised should government go ahead with its decision.

He said the programme which was a promised made by President Akufo-Addo when he was the NPP Presidential Candidate in 2008 is not laudable at the moment.

Although ACEP supports the policy, it want government to reconsider its decision by understanding the relevance of the Heritage Fund.

Read full statement below:
GOVERNMENT SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM THE HERITAGE FUND
Press Release, Accra- 15th February 2017
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has noted the desire of Government to use oil revenues to finance campaign promise of free Senior High School (SHS) education. ACEP has been campaigning for the use oil revenue to finance the pro-poor sectors of education and agriculture for four years. Therefore, we cannot, in principle, be against the use of oil revenue to finance education. However, we want to alert government that the petroleum revenues are governed by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, Act 815, which was passed after deep consultation with citizens. In spite of many implementation challenges, the PRMA has been a model for many countries and Ghana can only do better at improving on transparency and accountability around the use of the oil revenues. Much as we support the use of oil revenue for financing education, we want government to recognize the significance of the heritage fund and not touch it.

ACEP therefore states its position on the use of oil revenue to finance the free SHS as follows;

  1. Heritage Fund Still Relevant- the principle of intergenerational equity which informed the establishment of the fund ensure that ownership of the resources is shared among the living and the yet unborn. It also ensures sustenance of revenue flow after the oil has been exhausted. It is easier to assume that those of us living today can invest the heritage fund to benefit the future generation. This assumption is overly simplistic and takes away the right of the future generation to decide on their own priorities. The heritage fund represents about 9% of Benchmark Revenue (BR), leaving 91% of the BR for the national budget. This conservative amount left for the future should not attract uncontrolled appetite to spent. For the past 6 years the total payments made into the fund plus interest is $277 million. This is enough to fund only about 3 years of the cost items to be waived by government estimated to be about GHS327million, holding the 2015 enrolment constant. With anticipated growth in enrolment occasioned by the programme, the heritage fund could be woefully inadequate to sustain the free SHS programme
  2. Use the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA)- the credible window for financing the free SHS policy from oil revenues will be through the ABFA. It must however be highlighted that the current architecture of the PRMA allows for only 30% of the ABFA for recurrent expenditure. Given that most of the cost items for the implementation of the Free SHS are recurrent expenditures, government will have to amend the law to be able to spend more that 30% of the ABFA

ACEP will want to recommend that;

  1. Government should continue to grow the Heritage Fund. The purpose of establishing the fund is still valid today and we should not deny the future generation an opportunity to decide what they do with their share of the resources as was done by past leader with mineral revenues.
  2. The PRAMA should be amended to allow 50% of the ABFA to support the Free SHS programme. This will be a more equitable way of distributing the resources than financing “ghost project” though thin distribution of oil revenues.
  3. Reduce allocation to GNPC- Government should take steps to streamline the operations of GNPC to focus on its core mandate and redirect some its allocation into the budget to finance education.
  4. Use part of Solid Mineral Revenue to support the Free SHS- this is an opportunity for government to introduce governance framework similar to the PRMA on mineral revenues and allocate portion of mineral revenues to education.
  5. Government should recognize that the capital budget of the education sector has been lower than 6% of the total sector budget in recent past, therefore, education sector financing should equally be big on improving the asset base of the sector.

Signed
Benjamin Boakye
Deputy Executive Director
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]

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