Angry Akrofuom MP exposes school authorities for charging his constituent GH¢30,000 for admission:
Joseph Azumah, the Member of Parliament for Akrofuom, has voiced strong condemnation of alleged corruption within Ghana’s Senior High School (SHS) placement system, citing a case where a constituent reportedly paid GH¢30,000 to secure admission for their child to a preferred school.
Speaking on Asempa FM on October 21, 2025, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislator shared that he was initially approached by a constituent seeking assistance with their child’s placement. However, within a week, the individual returned with evidence of having paid GH¢30,000 through unofficial channels to secure admission.
“Someone who knew I was an MP came to me…and asked me to help their child gain admission to a certain school,” Azumah explained. “Within a week, the person came back with evidence showing that they had paid GH¢30,000 to secure the placement. Why are we doing this to ourselves?”
The MP expressed shock and questioned why parents were willing to pay such exorbitant sums for school placements, suggesting that such practices exacerbate inequality and corruption in the education sector. “I asked the person, so if your child goes to this school, will they automatically become an MP or a president? Why sacrifice so much for that?” he said.
Azumah described the constituent’s eventual success in securing admission as worrying evidence of “systemic rot” within the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS). “This is the kind of country we live in. It shows how deep the problem has become,” he added.
The Akrofuom MP called for increased oversight of the SHS placement process to combat corruption and restore public trust. He proposed allowing District Chief Executives (DCEs), Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs), and Metropolitan Chief Executives to delegate representatives to monitoring committees to ensure greater transparency.
“I’m not saying they should interfere but for supervision and monitoring, DCEs, MCEs and KMA bosses should be allowed to delegate representatives on the placement board,” he suggested. He warned that ignoring such issues could erode public confidence in the government and reinforce perceptions of unfairness in the education system.
“Some of the things we claim are small are the same things that destroy governments,” Azumah cautioned.
