The founder and leader of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Christian Kwabena Andrews, has expressed concerns about former President John Mahama's free-fees policy for first-year tertiary students.

According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer in his previous administration stated that graduates are unemployed because they lack the necessary skills to create their own jobs after completing school.

Speaking to JoyNews on Wednesday, August 14, Mr Andrews said he was surprised to hear the former president promise free tuition for first-year tertiary students instead of focusing on providing them with skills.

“As Mahama himself said the graduates who don’t have work to do - because they don’t have the skills we need in our country. That’s what he said when he was in power.

“So, I’m even surprised to hear him come and say that he’s going to give entrance to the university free for the first-year students.

He added that even those who pay fees to go through tertiary education often end up unemployed. He thus questioned what would happen to those benefiting from the free-fees policy after graduation.

Additionally, the GUM presidential aspirant stated that while he supports the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, it should be reviewed.

He suggested that students planning to pursue practical courses should benefit from the Free SHS policy, while those focused on theoretical courses should pay fees.

“I think it’s better we give free to those people who are going to do the practical work but those who want to learn the theory to become a lawyer, you have to pay,” he said.

When asked why he proposed this disparity, Mr Andrews explained, “I think it’s your own business, we’re not going to benefit anything out of that. How can we train more lawyers in this country while we don’t even have a company?

“Look at these people in Parliament and the way they are behaving, everybody wants to be a lawyer; they just want to suck our blood but not go into the practical field where they put up a factory.”