Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has shared a deeply personal story about how businessman and politician, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, helped him complete secondary school through a bursary.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 27, the Effutu MP revealed that financial hardship nearly forced him to drop out of St. Augustine’s College in his final year, but Dr Nduom’s scholarship intervention changed the course of his life.

“I always say that, but for Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom’s bursary, I sitting here wouldn’t have completed SHS in Saint Augustine’s final year,” he recounted.

“By the way, the parents of my friends supported my fees in year one and year two, but by year three, things were bad. My mom was out of work. My stepdad had been demoted. He was at Pomaze Poultry, and they were not being paid.”

He described how his stepfather’s political demotion worsened the family’s financial situation.

“He got demoted because of politics. They said he had followed Kufuor in the 1996 election. So he was demoted and transferred, made a watchman from a missing foreman, and sent to anchor food. Pomaze Poultry business was going down, so they were not being paid,” he said.

The MP recalled how Dr Nduom introduced a competitive bursary scheme that rewarded academic excellence.

“Dr Nduom brought his bursary and said anybody who broke his record should get that bursary. It was a competition. It wasn’t even for a brilliant but poor child. And by the grace of God, I won it. I’m saying that, but for that, I would have dropped out of St. Augustine’s College,” he stated.

Afenyo-Markin used the story to underscore his strong defence of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, describing it as one of Ghana’s most impactful social interventions.

“Many people today, when you look for house helps or gardeners in your home, they will tell you they have completed SHS. It wasn’t the case before. Many homes, poor and rich, have benefited,” he said.

He also rejected criticisms of the Free SHS program, arguing that education is a powerful equaliser.

“Ours is to create a platform to build the human resource capacity of the Ghanaian people. We did that successfully,” he insisted.

Reflecting on his party’s governance, Afenyo-Markin acknowledged challenges faced by the New Patriotic Party, including the economic shocks of COVID-19 and the loss of support among the middle class.

However, he maintained that the NPP’s social intervention record remains unmatched.

He cited the Free SHS, One District One Factory, school feeding, and the National Health Insurance Scheme as initiatives that changed lives and strengthened the economy.

“Tell us your NDC party a single social intervention program that, since 1992, has been initiated and implemented successfully. They have zero,” he challenged.