CAN GHANA’S NEW PRESIDENT MEET THE VOTERS’ HIGH EXPECTATIONS?
Ghana’s former President John Mahama won last month’s elections by a landslide but he will be under enormous pressure to meet the expectations of voters when he assumes office on Tuesday.
After more than three years of economic misery, Ghanaians want a quick fix.
Mahama swept back to power after eight years in opposition, running what political analyst Nansata Yakubu described as a “masterclass” in campaigning.
He defeated Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia by 56.6% of votes to 41.6% to notch up the biggest margin of victory by a candidate in 24 years.
Mahama’s party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also managed to land an overwhelming majority in parliament, securing 183 seats out of 276.
They are one seat short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass laws and approve budgets and contracts without the vote of MPs from the other side of the political divide.
The result of one parliamentary seat is yet to be declared because of discrepancies. Four other seats are being challenged in court by the NDC.
But voter turnout was lower than in the 2020 election, especially in some of the heartlands of Bawumia’s New Patriotic Party (NPP), suggesting some people there – disillusioned with its performance in government – stayed at home.
As Mahama’s supporters celebrated his victory, Belinda Amuzu – a teacher in the northern city of Tamale, a stronghold of Mahama – summed up their hopes.
“I’m expecting the new government to change the economy, so that the hardship will come down. He should also prosecute corrupt officials so that it will be a lesson to others,” she told the BBC.
“The hardship” has become a common phrase in Ghana since the economy hit rock-bottom in 2022, causing a cost-of-living crisis that shredded Bawumia’s reputation as an “economic whizz-kid” – and led to his defeat at the hands of Mahama.
However, during his state of the nation address on Friday, outgoing President Nana Akufo Addo said he was leaving behind a recovered economy.
“We are handing over the country with gross international reserves of almost $8bn (£6.4bn). This is more than the $6.2bn my administration inherited in 2017,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disbursed about $1.9bn to support the country’s economic recovery since Ghana signed onto the programme in 2022.
However, opposition MPs disagree with Akufo Addo’s assessment.
“The people of Ghana have already given their verdict on the true state of the nation and that verdict was very clear. Economic hardship, huge debt overhang, high youth unemployment, hopelessness and more,” said minority MP Emmanuel Armah Kofi Boah.
Ghanaian economist Prof Godfred Bokpin told the BBC the challenges facing the next government were huge.
“What Ghana needs right now is credible leadership, lean government and efficiency in public service delivery. Without that, there cannot be a future,” he said.
Mahama has promised to bring down the size of the cabinet from more than 80 to around 60, but Prof Bokpin argued it should be even smaller while political analyst Dr Kwame Asah-Asante stressed the need for appointments to be on merit rather than loyalty.
Mahama will be flanked by former Education Minister Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who is set to become Ghana’s first female vice-president.
Dr Yakubu said her appointment was not one of “tokenism” and she was not someone who could be “manipulated”.
“We have a fantastic first female vice-president in Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang,” she told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast. (BBC News)
