The campaign team of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged Ghanaians to reject the NDC’s attempts to mislead voters into supporting the opposition party in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
This call follows recent remarks by John Mahama, where he claimed credit for introducing the Free SHS and National Health Insurance policies.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the campaign’s Director of Communication, addressed these assertions on a social media program titled “The Next Chapter,” led by the campaign team.
Aboagye accused the NDC of similar claims during the 2008 election, which allegedly led to dismantling social initiatives initiated under the John Kufuor administration.
Aboagye clarified that the National Health Insurance Policy was actually implemented during the tenure of former president John Agyekum Kufuor. This counters Mahama’s assertion that the NDC pioneered the policy in Damongo and Nkoranza.
He further explained that the concept of health insurance in Ghana arose due to challenges with the ‘cash and carry’ system introduced after the Rawlings administration phased out free healthcare.
The Catholic Church, with support from community and a Dutch NGO, initially piloted a health insurance scheme in Nkoranza and Damongo in response to these challenges.
“It is never true that the NHIS was piloted by the NDC in Nkoranza and Damongo. It was the Catholic Church in collaboration with the community supported by a non-governmental organization, to finance it.” Dennis Aboagye Miracles stated.
Aboagye further explained that the success of the health insurance scheme in Nkoranza prompted approximately 47 other communities to adopt similar models.
This grassroots support eventually led the government in 2003 to introduce mutual district health schemes, enabling residents to access healthcare within their registered districts.
Regarding former President Mahama’s assertion that the policy was nationalized by the late President John Evans Atta Mills, Aboagye countered this claim.
He clarified that in 2007, the government consolidated all district mutual schemes into a single national health insurance scheme.
This initiative aimed to provide one health insurance card that could be used nationwide.
“What the National Health Insurance card did was that the card you use for your district was replaced and one could seek health services from anywhere across the country,” Aboagye said.
Aboagye urged Ghanaians to remain wary of the NDC’s efforts to claim credit for the NHIS policy, highlighting that the NDC had opposed its nationalization in 2007. He also criticized the NDC for failing to fulfill their 2008 promise of a one-time premium for NHIS registration, citing even their current General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, who deemed the promise unrealistic.
Given this track record, Aboagye cautioned Ghanaians to approach any promises from the NDC regarding the review of the Free SHS policy with skepticism.
He warned that the NDC might seek to undermine the policy if elected.
