Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has been adjudged as the best person to be given the management of Free SHS to since he co-birthed the program, according to a professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Professor Isaac Boadi. 

Describing the NPP’s flagbearer as the most qualified person to continue managing the program-poor flagship program, the Dean of Accounting and Finance at UPSA also indicated that Dr. Bawumia has the right mindset and vision to manage Free SHS.

“Dr. Bawumia has the right vision, mindset and focus to continue the Free SHS policy. He has been an integral part of the conception, development and implementation of the Free SHS program. He is, therefore, the best and most suitable candidate to be given Free SHS to handle going forward” he stated.

The UPSA don also said that a child can best be taken care of by his parents and not by foster parents. “Between a mother and a foster parent, who can best take care of a child? Clearly, it is the mother. Bawumia remains a mother to Free SHS whereas Mahama can only be a foster parent. Bawumia believed in Free SHS, Mahama has never believed in it. It is only right and safer to give Bawumia the chance to continue nurturing Free SHS, not Mahama”

“How do you expect someone who has never liked Free SHS to be able to manage it better than the one who has been a key part of the program?” he asked.

Professor Boadi also gave instances where an NPP administration has handed over policies and programs to the NDC but the latter couldn’t manage them well.

1. The NDC cloned NPP’s Northern Development Plan and named it SADA. We saw what happened. SADA was used as a vehicle to siphon millions of monies from the state into private pockets. Monies were wasted to plant trees in the dry season, monies meant for rearing guinea fowls were never used, etc, etc.

2. ⁠NDC inherited Health Insurance and made a mess of it. Before leaving office in 2016, the number of subscribers had reduced. Between 2009 and 2016, the number of NHIS subscribers decreased from 12.5 million to 11.03 million. Under the Akufo-Addo administration, subscribers have moved from 11.03 million to 17.5 million between 2017 and 2024.

3. ⁠They brought health insurance capitation and that nearly collapsed the scheme.

4. ⁠Kufour left them with a stable Metro Mass Transit system. They almost collapsed it.

5. ⁠School feeding was on its knees when Akufo-Addo came to power after JAK had left a stronger feeding system for the NDC.

“Judging from the above, we can all see that the NDC has never been able to manage programs bequeathed to them by the NPP administration. It stands to reason that if Free SHS is given to Mahama to handle, he will simply collapse it”

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to vote massively for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP in the coming elections.

Professor Boadi made these remarks at the Sunyani Edition of the ABC News’ Economic Symposium held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at the Sunyani Technical University Auditorium.