Your Parents Benefited from Free Maternity Care, Vote for Bawumia – Kufour Tells Free SHS Beneficiaries
Kufour reminds students of past healthcare and educational benefits, urging them to support Dr. Bawumia and the NPP in the upcoming elections
- Kufour highlights the Free Maternity Care introduced during his presidency
- He connects the success of Free SHS to policies like FCUBE and NHIS
- Kufour urges beneficiaries to support Dr. Bawumia as a way of preserving these gains
Former President John Agyekum Kufour has urged Ghanaian students who have benefited from the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy to vote in favor of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the upcoming election.
Kufour reminded the youth that their parents enjoyed the free maternity healthcare he introduced during his tenure, and they themselves have benefitted from the Free SHS initiative.
Speaking with selected journalists on November 17, he emphasized that the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy, which he launched in 2007, laid the foundation for the Free SHS program.
Kufour implemented the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005 and introduced free maternal healthcare (FMH) as part of the scheme in 2008. Pregnant women were automatically registered with the NHIS at no cost and received free healthcare services during pregnancy, childbirth, and for three months after giving birth. They were also exempted from paying NHIS premiums for new subscriptions or membership renewals.
“Before we introduced free maternity care, pregnant women were struggling with hospital bills under the ‘cash and carry’ system. The economy was in dire straits, and couples were burdened with these expenses,” Kufour explained.
He urged parents and teachers to educate the students on the history behind these policies and the importance of supporting Dr. Bawumia and the NPP.
