There are a number of things you got right and there are some you got wrong. As you hand over power to H.E John Dramani Mahama today 7th January, 2025, I have summarized them below.
Things you got right include:
1. Free SHS: This is one of the policies I will still defend anyday. Does it have gaps? Absolutely. And these gaps must be addressed continuously. It’s important to make it more smarter to enable those who can pay do so for their kids education. Forcing well resourced persons not to pay is a sure way of bloating our budget as a nation. The impact of free SHS shall be felt long after you are gone and you shall be remembered for this bold step.
2. Handling and managing the pandemic: You showed leadership during the COVID 19 pandemic. You shall be remembered for this.
3. Power supply: this has been generally impressive. Even though the were some power issues in the last one year or so, the experience of steady power supply prior to that was felt by all. That’s good for a growing democracy like ours. You will be remembered for this.
4. Health infrastructure: Agenda 111: this was a great idea. To address the gaps in access to health delivery accross tha nation. Ambulance service revamp was a great energy brought back into the health delivery services in the country. You will be remembered for this.
5. Resourcing the security services: your tenure saw a major increase in investments to equip our security services to do their work more efficiently. You will be remembered for this.
6. Ghana card: a critical infrastructure for the digitization of the country. Having the right data enables the entire economy, shape policy and widen the tax net effectively. You will be remembered for this.
7. The year of return: fantastic initiative that placed tourism in Ghana on the map. Also attracted some foreign direct investment from the diaspora. You will be remembered for this.
A few other initiatives that have the potential to transform the country included planting for food and jobs, 1D1F etc. however the implementation was poorly executed
Whiles you got these number of things right, you got a good number of things wrong.
1. Domestic Debt Exchange Program: DDEP was an illegality perpetuated by people in power who could twist the rules to the disadvantage of well meaning Ghanaians whose only crime was to trust and invest in government bonds. To the extent of touching pensioners money. When you find yourself in a whole, you stop digging. The reckless borrowing continued with expenditures on wasteful ventures. This clearly showed how disconnected you were from the reality. You will be remembered for this.
2. Finance minister’s continuous stay in office: He was too conflicted. His bank made huge money whenever Ghana borrows. A clear conflict of interest and yet despite all the calls for him to step down, you retained him. This created a major dent on your image as president. Unfortunately it cannot be reversed. It added more color to the perception that you were running a family and friends government. A leader must be able to appoint and disappoint in the interest of the state without hesitation. That’s one thing Rawlings and Kuffour did well. You will be remembered for this.
3. Exchange rate & inflation: This is one major campaign promise of your government during 2016 election. Unfortunately we saw the worse performance of the Cedi under your reign. You can twist the facts however you want but the numbers are speaking loudly. Taking the Cedi from ghc4 to $1 all the way to ghc16+ to $1 cannot be justified in any way. The dollars we borrowed ended up in the homes of politicians.
Inflation does not come by mistake. It is a reslut of overspending. We continued to spend what we did not have. The little dollars we borrowed ended up in homes of politicians. Creating unnecessary pressure on the dollar. You will be remembered for this.
4. Ordering chiefs to stand and greet you: You reinforced the notion that you are arrogant. It was avoidable. It was an unnecessary move. A move that sought to disrespect our traditional chiefs. These chiefs have followers who will do everything to defend the dignity of their leaders. That was adequately reflected in the Dec 2024 elections. People made their decisions to correct such disrespect to their leaders at the poll. You will be remembered for this.
5. E-levy: How did you get this so wrong? Policy and its implementation must be consistent with strategy. You cannot be driving digitization agenda and turn around to implement counter-productive policy like e-levy. Several experts of digital financial services including myself provided reasons why this policy was a disruptive but you chose a position not to listen to anyone. You will be remembered for this.
6. The fight against corruption: Mr President, in my own assessment you failed at this. The Cecilia Dapaah case was the nail on the coffin. Reading your letter requesting the sanitation minister to step aside clearly showed zero appetite to fight corruption. The outcome of that case was appalling and disappointing. You will be remembered for this.
7. The fight against galamsey: I stated in 2017 that my personal assessment of your tenure will be the fight against galamsey. You even promised in 2017 to put your presidency on the line to fight galamsey. Mr President, you did not live up to expectation on the fight against galamsey. Our water bodies are in a worse state after 8 years of your administration. You will be remembered for this.
8. Unveiling statutes of yourself at project site that is yet to be completed. Three weeks to a major election and you were unveiling statutes of yourself. Creating a clearer picture of lack of sensitivity to the general sentiments of the ordinary Ghanaian. You did not read the room. You were totally isolated from the realities on the ground. You will be remembered for this.
Ghana thanks you for your services. You will be remembered for the things you did well. You will equally be remembered for the things you did wrong. What will not happen is for you to be remembered for what did not happen. You had eight years to make your mark, you did what you could.