The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of heavily inflating the cost of the free sanitary pad project, insisting figures presented by the Finance Ministry raise serious concerns about value for money.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, November 25, the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo in the Ashanti Region, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, questioned why the government had allocated GH₵292 million for the supply of 6.6 million sanitary pads, a calculation he says does not align with market prices.

“They have distributed 6.6 million pads. They have repeated the same figure in Appendix 4A of the budget statement. A simple calculation will tell you that 292 million Ghana cedis divided by 6.6 million packs of pads is 44 Ghana cedis, almost 45 Ghana cedis,” he said.

He recalled how earlier this year, government communicators boasted that sanitary pad prices had dropped as a result of what they called sound economic management.

“In fact, on the social media platform of the Ministry of Finance, Ato Forson himself posted this tweet. He said that a pad is now 15 Ghana cedis, and indeed it has reduced from 25 Ghana cedis. Let us grant them that. According to them, they are saying that a pack of pads is 15 Ghana cedis. How then do you now allocate 292 million Ghana cedis and supply 6.6 million pads? What that means is that you are buying one pack for 44 Ghana cedis.”

Mr. Assafuah emphasised that the minority’s concerns are grounded in the government’s own documents.

“This is what I raised on the floor of Parliament. To buttress the point, this is a friendly media station of the NDC, Woezor TV, where it is rightly quoted that the price of Yazz Sanitary Pads, which was 25 Ghana cedis in January, is now going for 15 Ghana cedis. So I have not said anything out of the blue. It is their own document; it is their own budget statement, which is suggesting to the people of Ghana that one pad is 44 Ghana cedis.”

He added that no woman buys a single sanitary pad, contrary to what the figures seem to imply.

“Today, if you go to 'Malata', I know there are ladies here; I do not think that when you are buying a pad as sought by the Minister of Education, they just take a single one and give it to you. When we say a pack of pads is 15 Ghana cedis, it is a pack and not a single one.”

Calling on the media to help interrogate the numbers, the MP said the government cannot run on claims of prudence while presenting figures that raise serious concerns.

“The argument is that the media will have to join us to interrogate this matter. It cannot be a government that is overspending. It cannot be a government that is wasteful because they wrote on the back of this campaign in 2024 that the NPP government was corrupt.”

He stressed that the current administration is exhibiting even worse habits.

“Today, what are we seeing? We are seeing worse as far as this evidence is concerned. How can I best describe this kind of profligacy, this kind of overspending in their own budget? Apart from saying it is a profiteering government.”

Mr. Assafuah concluded by urging journalists to thoroughly examine how much was projected and how much was actually spent.

“So this is what transpired on the floor of Parliament that we felt it is proper for us to put the matters into proper perspective. I would urge the media to join us and interrogate effectively how much a pad was actually projected for and actually bought for the people of Ghana.”