Parliament has rejected the motion requesting the government to absorb fees of public tertiary institutions and accredited private universities of the 2021 academic year.
The said motion was filed by Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mr. Mahama Ayariga.
Mr. Ayariga filed the motion on the premise that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the businesses of parents and guardians of students of these learning institutions and that the current economic hardship the parents were facing as a result of the virus would not allow them to pay the fees.
Therefore, absorption of the fees by the government as part of national COVID-19 alleviation measures would be a step in the right direction, according to the motion.
Moving the motion in Parliament on 28th January 2021 after the debate to determine the merit of the motion has been postponed on three occasions, Mr Ayariga reiterated the economic hardship many parents were facing as the result of the negative impact of COVID-19 on their income-generating activities and prayed to the House to support the motion.
The Minority Caucus supported the motion, however, the Majority side argued that such a measure was needless since the government has already provided enough support and interventions to cushion businesses that have suffered as a result of the outbreak of the virus in the country.
The House voted on the motion after a heated debate and the Majority side won leading to the rejection of the motion.
In an interaction with the media after the ruling, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu said the posture of the Majority side on the motion has revealed that they were not ready to build consensus in the House, a situation which would make it difficult for the House to deliberate on matters in the future.
“This was our first opportunity to have cooperation from those in the government or the ruling party. It means that they are not ready to cooperate nor build consensus,” he said.
Eva Frempon-Ntiamoah, ISD
