The Builsa South Member of Parliament has demanded a thorough examination of government spending on free SHS.
According to Clement Apaak, there are discrepancies in the government’s estimates of the program’s real costs.
Thus, the administration was urged to make its position plain by the deputy ranking member of the Parliamentary Education Committee.
He thinks that this is the only way to adequately resolve any concerns that still exist with the policy.
“The ambiguity surrounding this matter certainly reinforces my belief that there is a problem with the SHS policy, which explains why, despite all the money being thrown around, the program is still facing difficulties.”
He said on Citi FM in Accra, “Clearly, something is wrong, and the fact that he [the Finance Minister] announced a figure that is significantly less than what he had reported on various occasions in Parliament confirms my point that there is a need for a forensic audit regarding the financing of the Free Senior High School.
In the mid-year review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy, the Finance Minister stated that the government had spent a total of GH5.3 billion on the programme, which contrasts with the prior number of GH7.62 billion in the 2021 budget.
Some Ghanaians, particularly CSOs, have questioned the statistics provided as the policy’s expense as a result.
Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Eduwatch Africa, for instance, has claimed that the government is not telling Ghanaians the full cost of the Free SHS scheme.
He claims that the statistics have been reduced.
The government’s own estimate of the amount it has spent on the Free SHS policy since 2017 has undergone several changes. It continues to change, not by growing, but by fluctuating. Around the same time last year, the Finance Minister spoke to them about the mid-year and said that $7.62 billion had already been directed into the policy since 2017.
“A year later, when we have really totaled the statistics, the same minister appeared before the house yesterday and stated that the government has spent a total of 5.3 billion dollars on the Free SHS, which is more than 2 billion dollars less than what was previously announced.
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