ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
Ministers of State, Honourable Members of Parliament, Vice-Chancellors and Rectors of our Tertiary Institutions, Development Partners, Leaders of our Student Movements, Distinguished Guests, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, All Protocols Observed, A Moment of Promise and Purpose It gives me immense joy to join you today in Koforidua—a city steeped in learning and leadership—to launch an initiative that speaks directly to the heart of our national aspirations: the right of every Ghanaian child to access tertiary education, regardless of family income, social background, or place of birth.
Today, we launch the No Fees Stress Policy, a bold, equity-driven intervention designed to remove financial barriers to entry into public tertiary institutions.
Beginning this academic year, the State will cover the academic-related fees of all first-year students admitted into our public universities, colleges of education, technical universities, and nursing training institutions who, in many cases, would otherwise have had to forgo their dreams.
This policy is more than a budgetary item.
It is a moral, constitutional, and developmental imperative.
A Hidden National Emergency Far too many of our young people have worked hard, passed their exams, and earned a place in our tertiary institutions—only to be turned away because their families cannot afford the upfront fees.
Let the numbers speak: In the 2022/2023 academic year, over 150,000 students were admitted to public tertiary institutions.
Yet, thousands could not take up these admissions due to theinability to pay academic-related fees.
Data from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission reveals that many more defer or drop out of their programmes each year for this very reason.
A student in a College of Education, for instance, received a monthly allowance of GHS200 in the 2024/2025 academic year—but was expected to pay GHS 1,362 in admission fees.
In nursing colleges, the fees were even higher—GHS 2,340, with the same monthly allowance.
The annual student loan of GHS 2,550 falls short in covering university academic-related fees, which can rise as high as GHS 8,000.
And the tragedy is that they are required to pay these fees when they have not yet had the opportunity to register for the Student Loan Scheme.
These are not just statistics.
Behind each number is a name, a face, a dream deferred.
Education as the Bedrock of Development Tertiary education is not just about getting a certificate.
It is the engine that powers a modern society.
It creates teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and public servants.
It spurs innovation, deepens civic responsibility, and fosters national identity.
According to the World Bank, every additional year of tertiary education increases an individual’s earnings by up to 17% in developing countries.
And yet, according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, only 18% of Ghanaians aged 18 and above have completed tertiary education.
This means that over 80% of our adult population lacks post-secondary qualifications.
In a nation striving to build a resilient, knowledge-driven economy, this gap is one we cannot afford to maintain.
Key Interventions of the No-Fees Stress Policy Mr.
Chairman, the No-Fees Stress Policy has been designed with deliberate inclusivity and scalability.
Its key components include: No-Academic-Fees Policy: The Government will cover the academic-related fees for all first-year students admitted to public tertiary institutions.
Student Loan Plus Initiative: This is a restructured financing model that provides enhanced support for continuing students, with expanded eligibility and simplified access.
Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities: To ensure full inclusion and compliance with our obligations under the Disability Act.
Increased Student Loan Amounts: Reflecting the real costs of tertiary education, adjusted annually.
Diversified Student Funding Mechanisms: Including targeted scholarships for underrepresented communities and disciplines vital to national development.
In addition, students in fee-paying programmes without regular-track equivalents will receive a reimbursement of up to GHS 2,500 for academic fees.
This policy is complementary, not substitutionary.
It does not replace existing allowances and loans; it lightens the heaviest burden—the cost of entry—that keeps thousands of brilliant students outside our gates of learning.
Equity, Not Charity This policy is not about welfare.
It is about fairness.
It is about restoring dignity to the Ghanaian student.
It is about affirming that the right to education is not a privilege for the wealthy, but a shared national inheritance.
Education is the great equalizer.
It bridges the gap between where a child is born and what that child can become.
This policy ensures that geographical location, gender, disability, or socio-economic background will no longer determine who can sit in a university lecture hall.
Global Lessons, Local Solutions Across the world, countries are embracing the value of publicly supported tertiary education.
In Germany, public universities charge no tuition fees—not even for most international students.
Norway, Finland, and Scotland have adopted similar models, recognizing that education is not a cost to be feared, but an investment to be protected.
These countries have developed highly skilled populations, reduced youth unemployment, increased social mobility, and enhanced civic engagement.
Ghana must not be left behind.
We must prioritize our people's intellectual capital as our greatest asset.
Partnership for National Transformation Let me use this occasion to call upon all stakeholders: To our students: This opportunity is yours to seize.
Focus, excel, and commit yourselves to serving Ghana.
To our tertiary institutions: Implement this policy with transparency, compassion, and excellence.
Let us make this a model of effective public delivery.
To the private sector and our development partners: I invite you to co-invest in this future through endowment funds, bursary schemes, and public-private financing models that extend the reach and sustainability of this initiative.
Let us work together to raise a generation of Ghanaians who are confident, skilled, and ready to build a prosperous and united nation.
Launch and Final Commitment Mr.
Chairman, as we speak, academic user fees have been cleared for an initial 15,000 students under this policy.
And today, with our students, educators, parents, and development partners, I am pleased to declare the No Fees Stress Policy officially launched.
Let it be known across this land that, from today, no Ghanaian child will be denied tertiary education simply because they cannot afford the academic fees.
This is the path to a more just society.
This is how we build a future where no dream is deferred, and no potential is wasted.
Conclusion: A Constitutionally Inspired Mission In launching this initiative, we also fulfil our constitutional mandate under Article 38(3) of the 1992 Constitution, which enjoins the State to provide equal access to university or equivalent education to all Ghanaians.
We are building a Ghana where opportunity is not inherited but created.
A Ghana where education is not rationed by class or cash, but granted by merit and upheld by the collective will of the Republic.
May God bless our youth.
May God bless our institutions.
And may God bless our homeland, Ghana, and make our nation greater and stronger.
Resetting Ghana_ Jobs | Accountability | Prosperity Remarks by HE John Dramani Mahama NDC Manifesto in Winneba 3ye Zu 3y3 Za My dear comrades, members, supporters, sympathisers, and followers of the National Democratic Congress.
The good people of Ghana, watching and listening from across the country and the world, and those who have joined us here in Winneba.
My beloved wife, Lordina.
Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, my running mate for 2024.
National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah General Secretary Fifi Kwetey Ladies and gentlemen.
Today, we gather with hope as one people, united in victory, and as one nation – Ghana – with a common, interwoven, indivisible destiny.
Today, we also gather to re-ignite and re-affirm the dreams of our forebears, led by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of our great nation—a nation with one destiny.
A destiny that cannot afford to endure one additional day beyond January 7, 2025, of the maladministration, mismanagement, and state capture this nation has been subjected to over the last almost 8 years.
For the sake of God’s children and in the name of God, the people of Ghana will wake up from this nightmare and envision a bright new dawn of opportunities for all its people.
My brothers and sisters, Ghana is bleeding.
Ghana’s soul is crying for change!
Mother Ghana is crying for its true and genuine patriotic citizens to rise to reset our beloved nation.
Ghanaians can take no more of the hardship, impunity, state capture, hypocrisy, lies, and bad governance inflicted over the two terms of this outgoing administration.
We cannot fail Mother Ghana.
Therefore, I urge you to vote for CHANGE on December 7.
We, the members of the National Democratic Congress, gather to express our utmost belief in democratic governance and to proclaim right here in Simpa (Winneba) that the time is up for this administration.
They have decimated our democracy beyond recognition, destroyed livelihoods and families, and pushed millions of Ghanaians below the poverty line.
Your vote on December 7 will end tyranny, cronyism, corruption, and hardship.
It will also pave the way for the vision, experience, and trustworthiness I, John Dramani Mahama, will restore to the Flagstaff House.
As I have said before, this government must begin writing their handing-over notes if they have not done so already.
This NPP administration has been the biggest political scam pulled on Ghanaians since our independence in 1957.
And I will explain why!
Repackaged with ribbons and sweetly scented with enticing promises, most Ghanaians will agree that Nana Akufo-Addo is indeed the President Ghana never got.
Indeed, I daresay, his much-touted economic whizz kid Dr.
Mahamoud Bawumia is also the economic messiah Ghana never got.
This NPP government took over from my administration on January 7, 2017.
They inherited an energy sector we had stabilised with the fastest mobilisation of emergency power of almost 800 megawatts.
Along with this came a new Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) with potential revenues of GH¢3 billion per annum to pay off legacy energy sector debts.
They inherited an ongoing Millennium Challenge Compact of $547 million aimed at making Ghana’s energy sector the most efficient in Africa.
The family’s quarrel over shares in the PDS company led to the US pulling back $190 million, which was meant for the most critical component of the compact, private sector participation and improvement in collections at the distribution end of the electricity value chain.
They inherited more than $450 million of the IMF Extended Credit Facility initiated by my administration.
Most of our state-owned enterprises were breaking even or making a profit.
They inherited a cocoa production of 964,000 metric tons, with a COCOBOD that was making profit and owed only GH¢1.5 billion to the central bank in cocoa bills.
We handed over two new oil-producing fields, TEN and ENI, which increased Ghana’s oil production by more than 100,000 barrels per day with additional gas of more than 200 million scf per day.
This increased Ghana’s revenue from petroleum by more than half a billion dollars.
They took over from my administration a stabilisation fund in which we had accrued $277 million; a Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund with seed money of $270 million, and a sinking fund account at the BOG with a balance of over $200 million.
They inherited a budget that ran a deficit of 6.1% with zero borrowing from the Central Bank.
A stable currency that traded at about GH¢4 to USD1.
Inflation was at 15.4%.
Unemployment was at 8.4%.
When we handed over to the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government, Ghana’s debt as a percentage of GDP was 57%.
As a result of rapid fiscal consolidation, we handed over an economy that was set to grow at above 8% as predicted by the World Bank, IMF, and all the credit rating agencies.
Private businesses had an enabling environment to thrive, and foreign investors were queuing to make investments in our economy.
This NPP government also took off with a stabilised economy and significant buffers and with enormous domestic and international goodwill.
Indeed, this has been the most favoured government in our history.
But, alas, the Ghanaian people’s favour has been repaid with pain and anguish.
This government has received more revenue than all governments combined in the history of Ghana.
And as the saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected.
Unfortunately, the people of Ghana have been severely short-changed by this administration.
The scorecard of this administration has been abysmal.
An inflation rate that went as high as 54% and is currently hovering above 20%.
Ghana has one of the highest food inflation rates in Africa.
We have a currency that has depreciated to almost GH¢ 16 to USD 1; and borrowed more the GH¢70 billion from the BOG causing a serious upsurge in inflation; a debt to GDP rate that went as high as 104% and an unemployment rate at almost 15%.
Ghana has defaulted on her debts and engaged in a debt exchange that has resulted in painful haircuts and deferred tenure on bonds at lower interest rates.
Cocoa production has plummeted and for the first time in history, COCOBOD’s annual syndication, which was sought after by international banks, has no takers.
Production volumes are down and COCOBOD is seeking to delay delivery of almost 350,000 tons to next year.
COCOBOD has defaulted on almost GH¢13 billion in cocoa bonds.
Oil and gas production has declined by 32% and debt to independent power producers has increased astronomically.
The majority of SOEs are posting massive losses.
The COVID pandemic rather than being an adversity turned out to be a blessing, with a windfall for this government of almost GH¢ 25 billion of inflows most of which was doled out to companies owned by family and relatives.
The majority of our citizens are convinced our country Ghana is going in the wrong direction.
Faith in our democracy is at its lowest, and many of our youth do not believe that constitutional governance is working for them.
Faith in our democratic institution, and the political leadership is at the lowest ebb.
Corruption is at its highest and Ghanaians are numb to the scandals that are exposed almost every week.
And when you have a President who says he does not understand the hullaballoo about the sale of SSNIT hotels to a minister in his government, then clearly, he is on a completely different wavelength than the rest of the country.
This is a President who doesn’t get it!
Many domestic and foreign investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
Many I have met told me they are waiting for a signal from the Ghanaian people that the political and business environment is going to change.
That we are going to effect a change of course.
Matthew 25:14-30 – tells one of the parables of Jesus Christ – “The Parable of the Talents”.
This parable teaches us to invest whatever is put in our care wisely for the benefit of our master.
The master in this case is the people of Ghana.
This administration is akin to the last servant, who buried the talent that was given to him and returned the same talent to his master upon his return.
In the case of Akufo Addo/Bawumia and their cabal, they did not bury the talents given to them by the people of Ghana and return them to us.
They gambled with the talents we gave them and landed the people of Ghana in a huge debt.
We cannot continue this path!
Lessons must be learned from the experience of these last almost eight years.
A vote for the NPP will be an expression of satisfaction with the impunity of the last 8 years.
A vote for the NPP is a vote for a third term for Nana Akufo-Addo.
A vote for NPP in this election is a vote to escape accountability.
It is a vote to allow officials who have raped this country’s resources to escape accountability and to go laughing all the way to the bank.
Their flagbearer and running mate who have been prominent actors in the horror movies Ghanaians have watched these last almost 8 years cannot be the ones to exact accountability from the government of which they have been an integral part.
We are at a critical juncture in our democratic history.
Choices we make in elections come with consequences.
We cannot afford to fail this time.
A restive youth does not have the luxury of trial and error.
They do not have the luxury of trying a driver’s mate who has learned his driving from the same driver who crashed the vehicle of the Ghanaian people.
Our nation needs a reset!
Our democracy needs a reset!
Our economy needs a reset!
Our governance needs a reset Our attitudes need a reset!
We need a government that will galvanize the effort of all Ghanaians irrespective of ethnicity, religion or partisan affiliation!
We need a government that will allow all businesses to thrive, whether domestic or foreign no matter the ethnic, religious, or partisan colours of its owners.
This may be our last chance to get it right.
It cannot be business as usual.
Ghana is a nation in a hurry.
We need to make a change – A change that will usher in a government that is responsive and accountable.
A leadership that will crack the whip when its appointees go down the wrong track.
A responsive government that will respect the rights and freedoms of citizens including journalists and address the ongoing decay of state institutions and fight corruption by deploying the “Operation Recover All Loot” (ORAL) Strategy.
Today, we are presenting to you a manifesto that will help TAKE BACK YOUR FUTURE.
THE FUTURE OF GHANA IS IN YOUR HANDS.
I will at this point give you some highlights of the manifesto after which my running mate and the next Vice President of Ghana Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang – a prominent daughter of the Central Region – and other presenters will delve into other areas of the manifesto.
HIGHLIGHTS.
RESETTING THE ECONOMY FOR PROSPERITY First 120 days in office: Hold a National Economic Dialogue to draw up a 4-year fiscal consolidation programme.
Rationalise taxes.
Abolishing among others E-levy, COVID levy, and 10% levy on bet winnings.
Review import duties and levies on vehicles and equipment meant for industry and agricultural purposes.
Rationalise ports fees and charges.
Implement emergency measures to stabilize the Ghana Cedi and the macro-economy.
Use Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy to cushion consumers.
Investigate NPP’s opaque Gold-for-Oil deal.
Review the Gold Purchase Programme of the Bank of Ghana.
Restore the licenses of wrongfully collapsed banks and financial institutions.
Increasing indigenous participation in the banking and financial sector.
Free statutory funds (GETFUND, NHIL, Road Fund…) for their mandated objects.
ALLEVIATING THE CURRENT ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS.
No-academic-fee policy for first years in public tertiary institutions.
Free Tertiary Education for PWDs Free Sanitary Pads for girls in school.
QUALITY HEALTHCARE FOR ALL Uncap the National Health Insurance Levy.
Re-prioritise the health sector by ensuring timely release of payments to service providers.
Establish the Ghana Medical Care Trust (MahamaCares) Fund to support persons with chronic diseases such as kidney failure (dialysis), cancers, Sickle Cell disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other heart diseases.
Implement Free Primary Healthcare services from the CHPS compound level to the district level in the medium term.
Expand health infrastructure to restore the automatic employment and timely deployment of health workers.
Construct a state of the art 500-bed Specialist Children’s Hospital and Fertility Centre in Accra.
Expand facilities at the Ho Teaching Hospital to provide comprehensive specialist services with the view to establishing a quaternary hospital in the Volta region to attract medical tourism.
Build a Specialist and Trauma Hospital in the Oti Region for emergencies on the eastern corridor.
Establish a modern dialysis centre in hospitals in regions that don’t have them.
Build modern hospitals in Bawku, Yendi and other underserved areas.
24-HOUR ECONOMY Formula 1:3:3 Same Job, Three Shifts, Three People Extraordinary problems require extraordinary solutions for extraordinary results.
Businesses and public organizations to operate 24/7 in three shifts of eight hours.
Boost production, promote productivity, generate well-paying jobs.
Transform Ghana into an import substitution and export-led economy.
Increase employment opportunities and revenue.
Enhance access to public services.
Focus on selected public institutions with large customer traffic: Ports and Harbours Customs Passport Office DVLA etc.
Private sector focus: Agro-Processing Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals Construction Financial Services Extractive industries Sanitation and Waste Management Hospitality Industry Retail Centres Transportation Services Health Services Security Services SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR 24-HOUR BUSINESSES Stimulate demand for 24-hour economy goods & services.
Supported by strategic investments in infrastructure, security, energy etc.
Public and private security architecture.
Cheaper and reliable electricity (Time-of-Use tariff system) Tax incentives for cost reduction.
Support from Ghana Exim Bank for agro-processing & manufacturing to boost exports.
Support SMEs operating below capacity with catalytic investments to grow & generate jobs.
ACCELERATED EXPORT DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (AEDC) Chaired by the President.
To promote exports under the 24-hour economy strategy.
WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT BANK Special-purpose bank Low-interest loans Tailored financial services on very flexible terms.
Empower ONE MILLION (1,000,000) Ghanaian women.
Support women-owned and women-led businesses NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMME (NAP) For self-employment FREE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
Trained apprentices graduated with certification.
Provide start-up capital & equipment.
“ADWUMAWURA’’ PROGRAMME Special business start-up policy with focus on the youth.
Create, track and mentor 10,000 businesses annually.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Exempt new small businesses from corporate and personal income tax for the first two years after their incorporation.
Review Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1014) to scrap the ban on importation of salvaged vehicles.
Save the local automotive industries—Suame Magazine, Kokompe, Abossey Okai.
Support the redevelopment of the Abossey Okai, Suame, Kokompe and Cape Coast Artisanal enclaves.
Implement a ‘Made in Ghana Agenda’ for production and consumption of Made-in-Ghana goods.
Launch an “Export Ghana Policy” (AfCFTA & other external trade programmes).
Enhance the role of Ghana EXIM Bank in financing non-traditional exports.
Mo-Ne-Yo Pension Scheme for informal sector workers.
Commercial drivers and motorcyclists (Okada).
Small scale miners, farmers, fishermen, traders, market women DIGITAL JOBS INITIATIVE Partner the private sector to invest $3 billion to leverage ICT for jobs through: One Million Coders Programme: Coding, WebApp development, software engineering etc.
Stimulate demand for made in Ghana software.
Government using locally developed software will employ our coders and reduce foreign exchange payments for subscriptions to overseas vendors.
Establish Regional Digital Centers for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
Invest $50million in a FinTech Growth Fund to promote digital entrepreneurs.
Set up Zonal ICT Parks to make Ghana the hub for innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in Africa.
Re-develop the Dawa ICT park into a world-class centre of excellence.
GHANA FIRST FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME FOR JOBS Work with private sector to make Ghana the Pharma Hub of Africa.
Develop an integrated aluminium industry for industrialization.
Invest in the production of plastics, fertiliser and other synthetic materials.
Expansion of the automotive and vehicle assembly sector.