George Garbrah, CPP Council Secretary
The National Elders of the Convention People?s Party (CPP) has thrown its weight behind the free SHS policy, explaining that it was a programme implemented by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the 60s.
The elders explained in a release signed by its Council Secretary George Garbrah that the policy?s countrywide coverage would have been achieved long ago, adding that the debate over its merits or otherwise currently suggested the failure by successive governments in the way they had managed the affairs of the country over the years and the misplacement of our national priorities.
?It would be useful to remind Ghanaians that the policy of providing education to all Ghanaians was started by the Osagyefo in the 1960s under the government of the CPP,? the elders stated.
?The provision of free education has always been part of the CPP and especially now that the wealth of our country has been boosted by the oil revenue,? they said.
The elders proposed that all political parties adopt a policy of free education, which was the surest way of producing the quality labour force necessary for the structural transformation of ?our economy into the era of value addition and industrialization?.
They also called on all members of the CPP to stand firm in support of the party and candidates and to conduct themselves in a manner befitting what they described as Africa?s greatest tradition.
Turing to the forthcoming polls, the elders applauded the Asantehene for hosting the recent peace conference. While praying for the Electoral Commission to be up to its responsibility of exhibiting fairness in its conduct of the polls, the elders took issues with what for them was the reckless manner in which the economy had been handled.
In spite of the increased revenue derived by government, the elders noted that the average Ghanaian continued to wallow in poverty as the cedi?s value dropped.
?Corruption in all its facets, greed, graft and unceasing plunder of the national coffers in the form of payments of dubious debts have permeated the highest echelon of government [and] as a result of this, men in authority have lost the moral right to say or do anything about the situation,? they observed.
The gap between the salaries of the President, his ministers and MPs on one hand, and those of nurses, teachers and others on the other, they observed, was too wide and should not be further widened as the recent increase of the executive and legislature sought to do.
By A.R. Gomda
