Free Quality SHS Is Good For Ghana: Chase Corrupt Businesses To Close Loopholes

Free, quality Senior High School is critical to building the human capital needed to build and sustain a knowledge-based economy. Fellow Ghanaians, the burden of illiteracy is far costlier. Poorly educated youth is a price the nation cannot bear.

As such, it is important for the government to raise the needed funds to honour this great policy. It has nothing to do with politics. AFAG holds the view that this is about the future of the youth of this nation. For this reason, AFAG is not against the use the Heritage Fund in supporting the policy.

When is the future? The future is now.
However, AFAG’s position is that any amount of money taken from the Heritage Fund in support of the free SHS be seen as a loan payable at an interest rate commensurate with returns the Heritage Fund would have made if the fund were invested on the open market.

Ladies and gentlemen, AFAG proposes that government should consider the creation of an SHS Fund within three years from the start of the free SHS program to provide support on a long-term basis. Three years from the running of the SHS Fund, the government should pay back the debt owed to the Heritage Fund. We, therefore, call on Parliament to consider a repayment program and demand commitment from government to honour its promise, should they adopt AFAG's proposal.

Ladies and gentlemen proposes two options for raising funds for the free SHS on permanent basis;

1. Part of the money for the SHS fund should come from allocating part of existing taxes such as; property rate, VAT, talk tax, and duties at the port among others.

2. Furthermore, the government should seal all loopholes within the system. The government must crack the whip on corrupt contracts and business deals with the aim of recouping what have been "stolen."

3. In 2013 President John Dramani Mahama demanded that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice retrieves monies fraudulently paid to individuals and companies through contracts with GYEEDA. These companies included; Better Ghana Management Services Limited; ZEERA; Goodwill International Group; RLG; Subbah; AGAMS Group; Azongtaba Cottage Industry and Exchange Programme and many others. Except for payments from AGAMS Group, the rest of the companies have disregarded the instruction, which cannot be accepted. It is critical for the new government to address this issue as soon as possible. Funds illegally paid to CP Constructions, Woyome, Isofoton among others should be hunted to facilitate the implementation of these laudable policies by government.

The time is now to tame greedy people in business who have corrupted the system and by that created an imbalance, which has distorted the business environment. The government should be bold to blacklist and punish such companies. The loopholes must be closed now.

Investigations conducted and reports generated is available and yet none of these recommendations has been implemented. It is unacceptable, and AFAG urges President Akufo Addo’s government to act now!

At a point, AFAG would have no other option than to begin to name and shame these people and at the same time drag them to the court to face the law. In as much as we appreciate the fact that a new Attorney General just assumed office and the promise of an Independent Prosecutor by the newly elected NPP government is yet to materialise, we shall play our democratically mandated role as stipulated in the constitution to the fullest.