Deputy Minister for Education Dr Clement Apaak has strongly rejected allegations by the MP for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, that the government purchased sanitary pads for female students at GH¢45 per pack.
He described the claim as completely untrue and “a figment of a first decomposing elephant.”
His reactions come after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Caucus in Parliament accused the government of profligate spending under the free sanitary pads policy for school girls in basic and senior high schools.
Addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps in Accra, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the NPP Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, cited figures from the 2025 and 2026 budget statements to back the Caucus’s concerns.
He explained that in the 2025 budget, the government announced plans to purchase 3.1 million packs of sanitary pads for GH¢292 million.
However, in the 2026 budget estimates, the government reported that the same amount of GH¢292 million was spent to procure 6.6 million packs.
Speaking to the media in Parliament on Wednesday, Dr Apaak clarified that the approved prices for sanitary pads under the 2025 budget fall between GH¢19 and GH¢24, significantly lower than the GH¢45 quoted by Assafuah during the 2026 Budget debate.
“This is not just a lie; it is a desperate attempt to deceive the good people of Ghana. Nowhere in our procurement process does a sanitary pad cost GH¢45. The highest price is GH¢24, and the lowest is GH¢19,” Dr Apaak stated.
He explained that the variation in prices results from transportation and distribution costs, which differ based on the distance between suppliers and beneficiary schools.
“If a supplier is transporting pads from Accra to the Upper West Region, naturally, the cost changes. Even so, the highest price remains GH¢24, never GH¢45,” he emphasised.
Dr Apaak also presented detailed statistics to demonstrate transparency and the scale of the intervention.
According to him, 6.6 million packs were distributed in the first batch, with an additional 5.6 million packs currently in circulation. The programme covers 20,744 public basic schools and 906 senior high and TVET institutions.
Beneficiaries include 398,701 girls in basic schools, 1.1 million girls in junior high schools, and 968,285 girls in senior high and TVET institutions, totalling 2,578,915 girls reached so far.
“This intervention is life-changing. It supports dignity, boosts school attendance, and addresses an inequality that has held our girls back for decades,” he noted.
He further disclosed that President John Dramani Mahama directed that sanitary pads be procured locally to support Ghanaian manufacturers and ensure value for money.
“Multiple local companies were contracted to produce and supply. We refused to repeat the mistakes of the decomposing elephant that inflated prices through sole-sourcing,” he said, referencing past procurement controversies under the NPP administration.
Dr Apaak accused Assafuah of employing misleading calculations and engaging in partisan mischief.
“The Member engaged in what my Minister, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, has called chop bar arithmetic. His intention was simple: create a scandal where none existed,” he argued.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to transparency and prudent spending, he stressed that no sanitary pads were procured at GH¢45, dismissing the allegation as a politically motivated fabrication aimed at diverting attention from the government’s achievements in the education sector.
“There is no scandal — and there will be no scandal. Not under President Mahama.”
