The Vice President of Ghana and flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was confronted by a female final-year nursing student who said she had never received the government allowance (‘allawa’) meant for students during a campaign event in the Bono Region.
Before the question from the student came, the Vice President touted the decision of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to bring back the allowance for nursing and teacher trainees, which was cancelled by the John Dramani Mahama government.
‘When my opponent was in government, he abolished the nursing training allowance. And we said we would restore the nursing trainee allowances, and we have restored them.
‘Can you trust my opponent with nursing training allowances? You cannot,’ he said.
Then came the question from the nursing student who claimed she had never received an allowance since she started schooling.
‘The question I want to ask is, when are we getting our ‘allawa’? Since I started school, I have not received my all
awa to date, and I’m in my last semester. Some of us are not even able to pay our school fees.
‘Those who are not able to pay their fees would be sacked; they wouldn’t be allowed to write the exams. If the ‘allawa’ had been given to us, they would have been able to pay their fees. So, my question is, when are we getting the ‘allawa’?’ she asked.
The NPP flagbearer, in his response, promised to take up the issue with the Ministry of Finance.
‘I wasn’t sure of where you were with your ‘allawa’, but I think that I will check with the Ministry of Finance immediately after I return. And I will make sure they pay you your ‘allawa’ if it has not been paid,” Bawumia assured.
Source: Ghana Web