Radio station running campaign against free SHS - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that a radio station is currently running a campaign against the free senior high school (Free SHS) education policy introduced by his government in 2017.

“A radio station is currently running a campaign against free SHS."

"During the last elections, I got the clear impression [that] free SHS has been endorsed by all political parties and all we needed to do was to keep improving it.”

“Would a spirited defense of the free SHS policy constitute an attack on press freedom? I wonder. It cannot be that everyone has a right of reply except members of the government and officialdom.

“Nor can it be that the challenging and opinion expressed by a journalist constitutes an attack on press freedom.”

President Akufo-Addo's comment was in reaction to recent public discussions on "culture of silence".

The President said he had been a critical and integral part of promoting for the country a constitution that upheld the freedom of association, speech and the media, the separation of powers, the rule of law, a strong and vibrant environment and a private sector that made people prosper and would do nothing to jeopardise the gains made in that direction.

He was speaking at a special congregation at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Saturday.

The occasion was to award him an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree for his meritorious contribution to educational development in the country, with particular reference to the implementation of the free senior high school policy.

President Akufo-Addo said he will not do anything to gag the press nor preside over a culture of silence.

He noted that as a human rights lawyer who had spent a greater part of his adulthood promoting and protecting the freedoms and rights of his country and individuals, it would be ironic that his person or his government would promote a culture of silence.

“What I believe may be sorely lacking in our society today, is the need to listen to each other more, knowledge has never been a gift granted exclusively to one group. We must listen and hear each other more.”

And for me personally, I find it ironic that the presidency of a man who has been and continues to be daily the most vilified political figure of his generation can be accused of presiding over a culture of silence. There is no midnight knock on the door in Ghana for authors of dissenting views, nor will there be during my presidency.

Read more: Culture of silence not here - President Akufo-Addo