Stop Rewriting History: Free Primary Healthcare is an NDC policy, not an NPP legacy – Hasford Judge Quartey writes

Let’s not twist facts to fit politics: the New Patriotic Party did not introduce free primary healthcare in Ghana. Repeating it across media platforms does not make it true. What it does is blur an important national policy shift that is happening right now, and deserves to be understood clearly.

The NHIS Was Important—But It Was Not Free Primary Healthcare

There’s no denying that the NPP government under John Agyekum Kufuor made a significant contribution with the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2003. It helped move the country away from the painful “cash-and-carry” system and gave many people a pathway to access care.

But let’s be honest about what NHIS is, and what it isn’t.

NHIS is an insurance system. You register, you renew, and the scheme pays providers on your behalf. Even with exemptions, access is still tied to having a valid card and navigating the system.

That is not the same as walking into a clinic and receiving care completely free, no questions asked.

What Has Changed: April 2026

That is why what is happening now matters.

Under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration led by John Dramani Mahama, Ghana has begun rolling out something fundamentally different: Free Primary Healthcare as a right, not a benefit.

With the April 2026 rollout, the shift is simple but powerful:

You don’t need insurance to access basic care

You don’t pay at the point of service

You are treated because you are Ghanaian, not because your card is valid

For many ordinary people, especially in communities where renewing NHIS has been a struggle, this is not theory, it is real relief.

This Is Not Politics, It’s a Policy Shift

Some argue this is just a continuation of past policies. But that misses the point.

This new approach separates primary healthcare from insurance altogether. It focuses on the first point of care, CHPS compounds, health centres, and polyclinics, where most people actually go when they are sick.

It also means the system is now built around prevention and early treatment, instead of waiting until conditions worsen.

That is not a rebrand. It is a different way of thinking about healthcare.

Let’s Call It What It Is

Ghana’s healthcare system didn’t appear overnight. It has been built step by step, and every government has played a role.

The NPP deserves credit for NHIS. That contribution stands.

But free primary healthcare, truly free, universal, and accessible at the frontline, is being delivered now under the NDC administration.

Trying to merge the two into one story might be politically convenient, but it blurs the truth.

Why This Conversation Matters

At the end of the day, this is not about which party scores points. It’s about something more practical:

Who is responsible for the care people receive today?

When a mother walks into a clinic and is treated without worrying about money, that is not an abstract policy debate. That is a real change in her life.

And that change deserves to be called by its right name.

Because if we can’t be honest about where we are, we will struggle to move forward.

Ghanaians deserve better than rewritten narratives; they deserve the truth. The reset is not a slogan; it is taking shape in real policy and real impact. The Ghana we want is no longer a distant dream; it is being built, step by step, in the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.

By Engr.  Hasford Judge Quartey