The Paramount Chief of the Vakpo Traditional Area, Togbe Gbogbolulu V, has endorsed the free Senior High School proposal of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying if his traditional area could sponsor some students currently in SHS, then the state can provide free SHS. He said his stance on education was non-negotiable and that he was prepared to lend the needed support to the proactive policies that would enable his people to better themselves through education. However, he added that while it was his desire for the NPP to win and implement the policy, he would not sit idly by if the NPP assumes power with his people’s votes and then fails to implement free SHS. Togbe Gbogbolulu gave these statements when NPP Vice Presidential candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia called on him at his palace Wednesday. Bawumia’s visit to the Volta Region was meant to make up for flagbearer Akufo-Addo’s failure to visit the chiefs and people of Vakpo, Kpando, Nkonya and other areas who had prepared to receive him on a recent campaign tour of the region. Akufo-Addo suspended his campaign following the collapse of the Achimota Melcom building, leaving the Volta Region to sympathise with victims in Accra. [Earlier, Dr. Bawumia had addressed a mini-rally at Juapong, where he introduced the parliamentary candidate for the area, Mr. Nicholas Ahiadorme. Joining Bawumia at the rally were NPP Second National Vice Chairman Sheikh T.B. Damba, Volta Regional Chairman Kenwuud Nuworsu, and other regional party officials. ] The people of the various areas and palaces he visited received him well and accepted the party’s apology. Togbe Gbogbolulu said that in the past, spirited public support for the NPP was very rare in his area, but depending on how well the NPP serves the local people if voted into power, the party could start to enjoy ongoing local support. His people’s needs, he said, include potable water and access roads connecting the various communities in the traditional area. In his address, Bawumia said that Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP were clear on the direction they needed to take the country and believed that an educated populace was a part of that vision, hence the need for free SHS. He expressed confidence that by the grace of God, Ghanaians would experience a dramatic change through this year’s election. He said that he was motivated to enter politics in order to use his knowledge and experience to bring about an economic transformation for the benefit of the Ghanaian people. The National Democratic Congress (NDC), he said, had resorted to the 'use and dump' approach of canvassing for regional support. He asked the people to vote for the NPP presidential candidate and for its parliamentary candidates.