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The National Youth Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has torn into pieces, the manifesto promise of the NDC to absorb 50% of fees of tertiary students for the 2020/2021 academic year and has labeled it as big scam, backing it with facts and figures.

According to Nana B, the promise was made whimsically devoid of any serious thinking and analysis as evident in the inability of the NDC to tell Ghanaians the number of prospective beneficiaries, the financial cost involved and the source of funding.

On Metro TV’s late night show, Good Evening Ghana, the National Youth Organizer of the NDC, George Opare Addo couldn’t provide figures on the total number of tertiary students in Ghana and the average fees paid by all categories of students at the tertiary level when asked by the host, Paul Adom Otchere.

However, Nana B who appeared to on set fully prepared and on top of the issues, disclosed that the NPP youth had done a thorough job to ascertain the total number of tertiary students in Ghana and the average fees each category pays and that he can confidently say that Mahama simply set out to scam Ghanaians.

“According to data from the National Council for Tertiary Education, the total number of tertiary students in Ghana is 433,360” Nana B has said.

Giving a breakdown of the figures, Nana B said “the total number of Full-Time Public University Students is 213,315 with an average fees of Ghc1,500 whereas the total number of Public Distant Education Students is 87,186 with an average fees of Ghc3,000.”

 “Again, the total number of Sandwich Students - Public Universities is 16,540 with an average fees of Ghc1,600 whiles Technical Universities Students and Private University Students are 56,610 (with an average fees of ghc1,300) and 59,709 (with average fees Ghc2,00) respectively. Therefore, 50% of fees of the about 433,360 tertiary students won’t be less than Ghc415,430,000 and we can boldly conclude that, Mr. Mahama cannot do this - he want to scam us - judging from his track record” Nana B asserted.

 Justifying these assertions, Nana B added that “Mr. Mahama canceled trainee allowance because his government was unable to find Ghc300 million to sustain the payment of the allowance. He asked Tertiary students to foot utilities bills that hitherto were paid by government. He couldn’t even find a little below Ghc1 million to pay the feeding grant of schools up north in that the schools had to close down for weeks in the beginning of every term. Again, he couldn’t pay even a cedi out of the Ghc37 million total cost associated with the shambolic Progressively Free Education he started in 2014.”

“Now tell me, where will the incompetent Mahama find over Ghc500 million to fulfill this promise when he couldn’t pay the utility bills of tertiary students and asked them to pay; when he couldn’t pay trainee allowance; when he couldn’t buy common chalks for teachers, when he couldn’t pay Research and Book allowance; when he couldn’t pay feeding grants etc? Mahama cannot be trusted” according to Nana B.

Note that this figure doesn’t include the cost associated with Colleges of Education Students although they have assumed tertiary status.