The Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has called for a full parliamentary and media investigation into what he described as “unacceptable contradictions” in the Ministry of Education’s reporting on the cost and distribution of sanitary pads for schoolgirls.

Addressing a press conference in Parliament, the former education ministry spokesperson said the ministry must “come clean” on its figures, insisting that the numbers presented in the 2025 and 2026 budgets “do not add up”.

According to Assafuah, the ministry’s 2025 Budget allocated GH¢292 million for the distribution of 1,025 ‘parts’ of sanitary pads, which he noted represented a cost of roughly GH¢225 per part.

However, he pointed to the ministry’s 2026 Budget, which claimed that 6.6 million “parts” were distributed — but at a significantly lower cost. Using the ministry’s own allocation, Assafuah calculated an average of GH¢44 per part, far above what the ministry publicly claimed in a recent social media post.

“The ministry tweeted that each part cost GH¢15, but the mathematics from their own documents gives us GH¢44,” he said.

“Which is the truth? Parliament and the public deserve clarity.”

Assafuah also stressed that the term “part” had not been properly defined anywhere in the budget documents, leading to potential misinterpretation.

“A part is not a pad,” he clarified.

“It is a bulk unit. You cannot buy a single pad for a child and claim it is one ‘part.’”

He humorously invoked what he called the “Malata Market Test,” arguing that anyone attempting to buy “one part” from a market vendor would immediately understand that the term referred to quantities, not single units.

Assafuah appealed directly to the media to help expose what he termed “a contradiction hidden in plain sight”.

“Ghanaians were told the previous administration was corrupt,” he said.

“But now we see numbers that raise even bigger questions. We cannot allow creative accounting to replace transparency.”

He urged parliamentary committees to summon officials responsible for the budget line, warning that the discrepancies suggested possible overspending, misreporting, or mismanagement.

“This is not about politics; it is about protecting taxpayer money. GH¢292 million cannot be brushed aside with vague explanations,” he said.

Assafuah added that independent media platforms, including NBC Wazote, had reviewed the same ministry documents and arrived at similar concerns, insisting this proved the issue was not “fiction or propaganda” but a matter rooted in official records.

The Old Tafo MP concluded by demanding that the education ministry issue a public clarification and provide a detailed breakdown of:

- What constitutes a “part”,

- How many pads were actually distributed,

- The true unit cost of the items,

- And whether the numbers reported in the 2025 and 2026 budgets align with procurement records.

“Pads are not a luxury. They are a dignity item for young girls,” he said.

“The ministry owes them — and the country — honesty.”