The Minority Caucus in Parliament, has demanded urgent clarification from the government regarding alleged irregularities in the procurement of sanitary pads for schoolgirls.

The caucus raised concerns that the process lacked transparency and may not have delivered value for money.

The Minority said discrepancies in the figures and contracts surrounding the initiative risked undermining public trust and accountability.

They have called on the government to provide a detailed explanation to Parliament and the public, stressing that such essential interventions must be handled with integrity to ensure that resources reached the vulnerable groups they were intended to support.

“The implied cost per pack would be approximately 44 Ghana cedis, raising concerns about value for money, especially considering the average market price of a sanitary pad pack is around 15 Ghana cedis,” Mr Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, said during a press conferences at Parliament House on Wednesday.

The Old Tafo legislator noted that the government’s own figures allegedly showed that 12.2 million pads were procured at a cost of GHS 292 million, translating to GHS 24 per pad.

However, a local manufacturer submitted a tender with a price of GHS 20 per pad, indicating potential overpricing by government.

“We demand transparency on procurement, contracts, and costs,” he emphasized.

Mr Assafuah, who spoke on behalf of the Minority, sought answers to several questions, including who submitted tenders and which companies were awarded contracts, what criteria were used to select vendors, and what safeguards were put in place to ensure fairness and competitive pricing.

The Minority said the government’s response had been inconsistent, with three different accounts in the public domain, raising concerns overpaying more than market prices, non-reconciling beneficiary numbers, and requesting new allocation with undistributed pads.

He therefore called for a review of the procurement process to ensure value for money for Ghanaian taxpayers.

On Wednesday, November 26, Dr Clement Apaak, the Deputy Minister for Education, denied allegations of alleged corruption and scandal surrounding the procurement of sanitary pads for schoolgirls.

He described the claims of pads being sold at GH¢45 as “chop bar arithmetic.”

The NPP Minority Caucus in Parliament on Tuesday, November 25, accused the government of profligate spending under the Free Sanitary Pads policy for schoolgirls in basic and senior high schools.

Addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps in Parliament, Mr Assafuah, the NPP MP for Old Tafo, cited figures from the 2025 and 2026 budget statements to back the Caucus’ concerns.

He said a simple calculation based on the total number of pads purchased implied that the government procured each pack at about GH¢45, far above the prevailing market price ranging between GH¢25 and GH¢15.

The Free Sanitary Pad Policy in Ghana was launched in April 2025 to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls from Primary Five through Senior High School nationwide, aimed at improving menstrual hygiene, reducing absenteeism, and promoting gender equality.

Dr Apaak, reacting to the Minority’s claims on Wednesday when he addressed the Parliamentary Press Corps, explained that “the cost of transportation and distribution has been factored into the procurement process, which accounted for the variation in prices.”

He emphasised that the government had distributed 3.9 million packs of sanitary pads to students in 20,744 public basic schools and 2.6 million packs to girls in secondary and T-VET institutions.

The Deputy Minister provided statistics to support the government’s transparency and accountability, stating that 2.5 million female students from primary 5 to senior high school had benefited from the program.

He attributed the allegations to a “desperate attempt” to create a scandal and discredit the government.

He said the NDC under President John Dramani Mahama and the Ministry of Education had not procured a pack of sanitary pads at GH¢45 and would never do so.