Former President John Dramani Mahama will be running as the NDC’s presidential candidate once again in December 2024, as Ghana prepares to elect a new president.
Having completed the remaining six months of late President Mills’ term and serving a full term from 2013 to 2017, Mahama will be the only former President on the ballot seeking to return to the presidency.
This means Mahama, as a former leader with a track record in office, brings both experience and a history of campaign promises and their fulfillment.
Before his election in 2012, Mahama made several promises and presented a manifesto titled “Advancing the Better Ghana Agenda” to persuade Ghanaians to vote for him.
In 2012, many Ghanaians were swayed by Mahama’s promises and elected him as Ghana’s 4th President of the 4th Republic, serving until 2017.
Last Saturday in Tamale, the former President launched his latest campaign to regain the presidency after losing power in 2016 and failing to secure it again in 2020. The campaign launch was predictably filled with new promises from Mahama and his party officials, many of whom had previously served in his administration.
As John Mahama has launched his new campaign, filled with promises, it’s crucial to evaluate his previous performance when he made similar assurances to Ghanaians and led the country from 2012 to 2017.
It is particularly important for questions to be raised, especially by young voters who have recently turned 18 and are now eligible to vote. They should examine how Mahama, the only former President on the ballot for the 2024 elections, performed when they were 12 years old, particularly regarding the major promises he made during his previous term.
Thoroughly investigating John Mahama’s track record on fulfilling his campaign promises is essential to assessing the credibility of his current commitments.
Unfortunately, a detailed review of Mahama’s 2012 manifesto reveals that many of the ambitious promises made during his previous campaign were not realized. Specifically, 46 major promises made by John Mahama during the 2012 elections remained unfulfilled after he was elected president.
John Mahama made 46 major promises during the 2012 elections, but these commitments were not fulfilled after Ghanaians elected him as President.
Below is a list of the 46 unfulfilled promises from his time in office. These could be considered as misleading or deceptive, as Mahama failed to deliver on the grand assurances he made.
Despite having four years, or 1,460 days, to act on these promises, Mahama was unable to fulfill them before losing the 2016 election.
Here is a detailed account of the promises, as outlined in the 2012 NDC Manifesto, which remains available for review:
1. Strengthen the CHRAJ to combat corruption, even without an “explicit complainant.”
Verdict: Unfulfilled
2. Abolish the Office of Accountability perceived to protect corrupt officials.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
3. Revise the Asset Declaration law to enhance transparency and accountability.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
4. Enact a Freedom of Information Bill to provide public access to official information and bolster anti-corruption efforts.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
5. Set an upper limit on the number of Justices on the Supreme Court.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
6. Separate the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice for better efficiency and transparency.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
7. Address Ghana’s reputation as a target for money laundering and drug trafficking.
Verdict: Unfulfilled. Ghana remained known as a drug transit point.
8. Introduce special tax rates for financial institutions that support priority sectors like agriculture and small businesses.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
9. Develop limestone deposits at Buipe, Nauli, and Nadowli for cement production.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
10. Revitalize the textile industry from seed production to processing and printing.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
11. Establish shea processing in all northern regions to achieve 50,000 tons annually.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
12. Support salt processing to benefit communities and the petrochemical industry.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
13. Rehabilitate viable but abandoned manufacturing enterprises such as Kumasi Jute and Aboso Glass.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
14. Explore an integrated Iron and Steel industry at Oppon Manso.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
15. Create a special pension scheme for farmers and fishermen associations.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
16. Set up a Ghana Commodities Exchange to improve post-harvest infrastructure and trading standards.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
17. Process at least 60% of cocoa locally and establish another Cocoa Processing Factory in the Western Region to reduce transport issues and create jobs.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
18. Enhance fish stocks through education and enforcement by an equipped Navy.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
19. Reduce post-harvest losses by improving storage, processing, and refrigeration facilities.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
20. Correct the quality and management issues with pre-mix fuel.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
21. Improve the capacity of small-scale operations and combat illegal mining.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
22. Implement a one-time national health insurance premium.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
23. Provide licensed teachers with a 15% professional allowance on their basic salary.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
24. Offer technical-vocational education teachers an additional 10% allowance on their basic salary.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
25. Grant teachers in deprived areas an extra 20% allowance on their basic salary.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
26. End schools operating under trees by 2016.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
27. Build two technical schools in each district.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
28. Rehabilitate and upgrade all technical schools.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
29. Construct a new railway line from Kumasi through Wa to Hamile.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
30. Establish two additional landing points on the Volta River to reduce transport distances.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
31. Develop the petrochemical industry using local and imported natural gas and Ghana salt.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
32. Double TOR’s capacity for processing Ghana’s oil.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
33. Construct 200 new Community Day Senior High Schools where none currently exist.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
34. Establish ten new Colleges of Education in underserved areas to accommodate increasing student numbers.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
35. Achieve an average GDP growth rate of at least 8% per annum.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
36. Maintain a single-digit inflation rate.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
37. Limit the overall budget deficit to 5% of GDP.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
38. Ensure gross international reserves cover at least four months of imports.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
39. Aim for a per capita income of at least $2,300 by 2016.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
40. Develop an integrated petroleum industry based on bauxite.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
41. Establish a petrochemical industry based on salt and natural gas.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
42. Create a fertilizer industry to support agro-development.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
43. Develop a salt-based chemical industry for caustic soda.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
44. Produce allied consumer products and exports based on oil and gas; and establish an integrated iron and steel industry based on iron ore deposits at Oppon Manso.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
45. Address gender inequality through the swift enactment of the Affirmative Action Act.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
46. Establish a commission of inquiry to investigate public land acquisitions.
Verdict: Unfulfilled
