Akufo-Addo’s decision to use Heritage fund for free SHS shows lack of ideas

The decision by the Akufo-Addo-led government to fall on the Heritage fund to pay its free SHS policy shows the government lacks a resource of ideas, the minority caucus in parliament has stated.

Though Section 10 of the Petroleum Revenue Management (PRM) Act 815 states that, “A Ghana Heritage Fund is hereby established. (2) The object the Ghana Heritage Fund is to (a) provide an endowment to support development for future generations when petroleum reserves have been depleted; and (b) receive excess petroleum revenue. (3) The Ghana Heritage Fund shall receive from the Petroleum Holding Fund a percentage petroleum revenue which be determined by Parliament as savings for the purpose of this Act”, Senior minister Yaw Osafo Marfo has hinted the government will push for the amendment of the law in order to allow usage of the fund for the implementation of the free SHS policy.

But according to the minority group, it will fiercely resist any attempt by government to finance its free SHS policy with the Heritage fund because the fund is a future investment which must not be touched now

“…We join the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians and civil society groups to register our strongest disapproval and objection to this idea. We wish to state emphatically that we shall resist any attempt to amend the petroleum revenue management act. In drafting the act, a lot of thinking and consultation was put into this act which led by the finance ministry. International development partners were consulted and lessons were drawn from the best practices in oil producing countries world over. The act is a product of national consensus and has both executive and legislative approvals,” MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam and a former Deputy Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson stated while addressing a press conference in parliament.