The government has spent more than GH¢900 million to implement the “No Fees Stress” policy, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has disclosed.
The initiative, launched by President John Dramani Mahama in July 2025, covers academic user fees for first-year students in public tertiary institutions.
Mr Iddrisu made the disclosure at the commissioning of a new campus of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) at Kenyasi Number Two in the Ahafo Region.
The four-storey lecture block, constructed at a cost of more than GH¢13.9 million, was initiated by the Kenyasi Number Two Traditional Council and funded by the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF).
The facility includes eight lecture halls, an ICT laboratory, modern furniture and an elevator.
According to the Education Minister, the government has also allocated GH¢50 million to support infrastructure development and facilitate the full operationalisation of the new UMaT campus.
He said the government was working to establish public universities in regions without such institutions, with the aim of completing the process before the end of President Mahama’s tenure.
The expansion of tertiary education infrastructure, Mr Iddrisu said, formed part of efforts to widen access to higher education and ensure that students across the country had opportunities to pursue specialised academic programmes.
He urged students in the Ahafo Region to take advantage of the new campus and work hard to achieve academic excellence.
The General Manager of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited’s Ahafo Mine, Alex Kofi Annin, said the campus demonstrated the impact of collaboration between traditional authorities, government, industry and development institutions.
He described education as a critical driver of national development and said the facility would improve access to quality mining, engineering and technology education for residents of the Ahafo Region and other parts of Ghana.
Mr Annin disclosed that Newmont, through NADeF, had supported the education of more than 15,000 young people from its host communities through scholarship programmes over the past two decades.
Professor Yaw Ofosu-Kusi, Chairman of the NADeF Board of Trustees, said the foundation was financed through a contribution of one dollar for every ounce of gold sold and one per cent of the annual pre-tax net profit from Newmont’s Ahafo operations.
He said the foundation’s work was guided by community participation, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability.
The Paramount Chief of the Kenyasi Number Two Traditional Area, Odeneho Dadeako Nsiah Ababio, commended the government and development partners for the establishment of the UMaT campus.
He, however, appealed for additional government support to expand infrastructure at the OLA Girls Senior High School in the area.
