'Sanitary Pads� Loan Will Eventually Find Its Way Into Gov�t Appointees� Pockets

Appointees� Pockets Central Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joe Donkor, has given thumps up to the current administration for successfully securing a $156m loan to support education, but fears it will become another means for the government in power to amass wealth as it happened with SADA and GYEEDA modules. The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Thursday vehemently opposed the approval of $156 million loan from the World Bank�s International Development Agency for expansion of secondary school facilities and eventually dissented in approving the loan amidst very abrasive exchanges on the floor of Parliament after the Majority used its numerical advantage to approve the loan. The Minority indicated that there were very serious issues that ought to be given a second look especially the amount of $15.9 million that had been voted under the loan agreement for research, monitoring, evaluation and administration as well as other items like sanitary pads, notebooks, school bags, school uniforms, pens and pencils that would be distributed free of charge to senior high school students under a three-year Ghana Secondary School Education Improvement Project by the government. But speaking to the issue on Okay Fm�s �Ghana Decides� program, the Central Regional NPP Chairman said though he was all for the idea of going for loans to improve the quality of education, the Mahama�s government�s penchant for borrowing was worrying and accused the ruling party of most often misapplying loans they go in for. �In reality the purpose for the loan is good because they want to improve the educational sector��.I have a problem with Mahama�s government because they are always interested in soft loans that can pave way for them to spend the loans and not use it for the major developmental projects. This $156 million dollar loan will be like that of SADA because someone has to import the sanitary pads for the students and that is the best way to steal. Ask me, who is going to buy those sanitary pads for the school children? How many children will be bold enough to tell her teacher of her menstrual issue considering the way most girls feel shy to tell even their mothers? NDC may have told us the reason for going in for this loan, but the monies will eventually find its way into the pockets of some state officials.�investing in education is good but investing in areas where people can steal from (the state), like the way the Guinea fowl rearing went, then we will not support and accept it��Minority is not against the intention of the loan but how the money will be utilized is the problem��.President Mahama has good intentions towards the nation but the implementation is always done wrongly,� he stated.