- SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS
At the time the NPP left office, in addition to massive infrastructural development, major social interventions to protect the vulnerable in our society had been put in place. These included:
- National Youth Employment Programme –providing opportunities and jobs for the youth to get a start in the job market
- The School Feeding Programme to provide food to pupils in basic schools
- Capitation Grant to make education affordable and accessible
- The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to provide accessible healthcare to the population.
- Free maternal care for all pregnant women under the NHIS.
- Introduction of a Metro Mass Transit transport service to provide subsidised transport for commuters and a free bus ride for basic school pupils in Ghana.
- Introduction of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme under which welfare grants were paid to the extreme poor.
Indeed, when President Mahama was campaigning in 2008, he rubbished the introduction of LEAP and described it as evidence of the failure of NPP economic policies. Today, LEAP has become his flagship programme that he touts as evidence of economic success. The same can be said of the strong language he employed against plans for the establishment of the Northern Development Authority, renamed SADA, and the introduction of Free SHS. Unfortunately, all these policies, which he subsequently embraced, have been badly managed. I have to conclude that the NHIS is suffering a similar fate. The President announced some impressive numbers as those who now subscribe to the NHIS. The reality is that the service is in deep distress and we now have a two-tier health service, where the NHIS users are the second tier and the dreaded cash and carry is in operation as the first tier at many health facilities. The other social interventions have suffered similar fates. The NYEP has been transformed of into a vehicle of corruption through GYEEDA. The Capitation Grant is in arrears. The School Feeding Programme is in arrears. Free Maternal Care under the NHIS is no more. The Metro Mass Transit, through rebranding, has become another avenue for corruption.
The Social Democrats of the National Democratic Congress should tell us what social intervention programmes have they successfully launched after almost 8 years in office? The answer is a big zero. Like in other areas of national life, the social intervention programmes introduced by President Kufuor are in jeopardy.
- See more at: http://citifmonline.com/2016/02/29/full-text-nana-addos-real-state-of-the-nation-address/#sthash.ODAvNoXg.dpuf
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