Mahama’s 25 social contracts with Ghanaians in first 120 days in office

Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has laid out a detailed plan for his first 120 days in office, should he win the 2024 elections.

His key promises include forming a lean and efficient government, instituting a code of conduct for officials, and addressing economic issues through a National Economic Dialogue and a homegrown fiscal consolidation program.

To ease economic hardships, the former President plans to scrap several taxes, including the E-levy, and reduce vehicle and equipment import taxes for industrial and agricultural use.

His ‘Big Pus’ for economic transformation involves creating an Accelerated Export Development Council and implementing a 24-hour economy policy.

Mr. Mahama also promises significant social interventions, such as free tertiary education for persons with disabilities, free sanitary pads for female students, and healthcare improvements through the Ghana Medical Care Trust and aims to launch job creation programs and initiate forensic audits into major corruption scandals and unresolved criminal cases.

The NDC presidential candidate also pledges to ban illegal mining in forest reserves, re-open investigations into key unsolved crimes, and compensate victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage. Further, Mahama plans to reform state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to ensure profitability and efficiency.

Below is an outline of Mahama’s social contract with Ghanaians

1. Nominate within the first 14 days the complete list of Cabinet Ministers for parliamentary approval.

2. Constitute the LEANEST AND MOST EFFICIENT government under the fourth republic in my first 90 days in office.

3. Establish a robust CODE OF CONDUCT AND STANDARDS for all government officials.

4. Hold a National Economic Dialogue to discuss the true state of the economy and prepare a homegrown fiscal consolidation programme to guide the budget.

5. Within my first 90 days in office, scrap the following draconian taxes to alleviate hardships and ease the high cost of doing business: E-levy, COVID levy, 10% levy on bet winnings, and Emissions levy.

6. Within my first 90 days in office, review taxes and levies on vehicles and equipment imported into the country for industrial and agricultural purposes.

7. Commence drafting needed legal amendments and prepare for implementing the 24-Hour Economy Policy under the Office of the President

8. Establish an Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC) to promote exports as part of a broader strategy for economic transformation.

9. Convene a national consultative conference on EDUCATION to build consensus on needed improvements to the sector.

10. Implement the ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions-universities, colleges of education, nursing training institutions, etc.).

11. Introduce the following social interventions: Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities, the Ghana Medical Care Trust (Mahama Cares) Fund.

12. Commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools.

13. Institute inquiries and/or forensic audits into the following matters of public interest: The collapse of Indigenous Ghanaian banks and financial institutions at a supposed cost of GHS25 billion, illegal printing of money, the US$58 million National Cathedral scandal, illegal and inflated single-sourced contracts, COVID-19 expenditure scandal, PDS, Agyapa, SML, Ambulance spare parts deal, 13th African Games, Sky Train, Pwalugu Dam, Maths Sets, Galamsey Fraud, missing excavators and tricycles, Sputnik-V, BOST Scandal, and others…

14. Institute a government policy banning political appointees from purchasing state assets.

15. Allocate seed money for the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank.

16. Launch the following priority job creation 16 programmes in the first budget: ‘Adwumawura’ Programme, ‘National Apprenticeship Programme’ and ‘One Million Coders Programme’.

17. Commence the review of the Customs (Amendment) Act 2020 to scrap the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles to rescue the local automotive industry at Suame Magazine, Kokompe, Abossey Okai, among others.

18. Lay before parliament a new bill to streamline government scholarship administration, prohibit political appointees from accessing government scholarships, and eliminate political patronage, cronyism, nepotism, and corruption in awarding government scholarships.

19. Ban illegal and new mining activities in forest reserves. Roll out our ‘Tree for Life’ and Blue Water Initiative’ to heal and sustainably harness the environment by turning areas and water bodies degraded by illegal mining into economic and ecological recovery hubs.

20. Launch ‘The Black Star Experience’ initiative as Ghana’s flagship Culture, Arts and Tourism brand to transform Ghana into a preferred tourism destination.

21. Commence investigative processes to purge state security agencies of all militia and vigilante elements.

22. Re-open investigations into major unresolved criminal cases including the 2020 election killings, Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, and murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale and Silas Wulochamey.

23. Initiate a probe into the man-made disaster caused by the VRA’s spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams that displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of citizens in the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra.

24. Initiate immediate steps to compensate the flood victims, including those in the Oti, Bono East and Savanna regions.

25. Carry out a shakeup of all loss-making SOEs and realign them to break even and transition into profit-making.