Ahead of the National Delegates’ Congress of the New Patriotic Party, a former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has admonished the leadership against ‘monetization’ of the process.
The NPP at the National Delegates Congress will elect a new crop of leaders to lead the party at the national level. The Congress is scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 16, 2022.
Speaking in an interview on Accra based Oman FM, Mr Agyepong indicated that the election must not be based on who pays money or gives out gifts to delegates. He therefore charged delegates to open up their minds and hearts, listen to the policies of the aspirants and make the right decision.
“Recognising friends might end up supporting opposing parties at the election for national executives. We shouldn’t see long-standing relationships coming to an end because friends support opposing sides,” he said in an interview.
With winners and losers emerging out of any election, the former Press Secretary to former President John Agyekum Kufuor urged those would be the victors it the elections to be magnanimous in victory.
Free SHS
Meanwhile, Mr Agyei Agyepong has called for a thorough review of the financial management arm of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy. He described the policy as a bold one, and believes government did right by implementing it.
“The Free SHS policy is a bold one, but the financial management is what must be looked at. I am worried about incessant complaints about the policy,” he said, indicating that education is an avenue to outrun poverty.
Using his late dad as an example, he revealed that his father was from a poor background, and was only with education and support from the Methodist church he became a lawyer “and made me who I am today.”
He said the available data should make it easier for the government to forecast and provide adequate funds to run the Free SHS policy smoothly.
“This is a simple arithmetic we need to figure out. If we know the number of people who qualify for Free SHS, we can multiple that by the amount spent per student, and make adequate provisions for them. The most important thing is that we have to make sure we provide the budget for the policy annually, no matter what,” he added
