The National Communication Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, has stated that the New Patriotic Party has taken advantage of Ghanaians’ ignorance about the NDC’s cancellation of the teacher trainee allowances to convince them to vote them into power in the 2020 general elections.

According to Mr Gyamfi, the NDC converted allowances for teacher trainees into student loans in order to promote equality and equity among all tertiary students. But many Ghanaians did not first understand the reasons behind NDC’s decision, hence the NPP took advantage of the situation to win votes from them.

“This policy, ladies and gentlemen, which was not properly understood by many was exploited by then-candidate Akufo-Addo and the NPP for cheap political and electoral gain, with the promise that they will restore allowances if elected,” he stated at a press conference on Wednesday, June 8, 2020.

He also added that speculations that Mahama’s selected running mate, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, was responsible for the cancellation of the teacher’s trainee allowance were entirely false, as the decision was taken by the entire cabinet.

“The decision to replace teacher trainee allowance with student loan was a cabinet decision and not a ministerial decision. It was taken in order to abolish the dreaded quota systems of admissions into colleges of education and increase enrolment and teacher opportunities for the youth of this country,” he concluded.