79% Approval Rating for President Atta Mills

London, United Kingdom — A national poll indicates that over three out of four Ghanaians approve of the way President Atta Mills is performing his duties as president of the Republic of Ghana. President Atta Mills’ approval rating stands at 79 percent in the new poll.

The Policy & Strategy Associates, Inc. survey, released Saturday March 14, also suggests that nearly 9 in 10 support the President’s decision to review the ex-gratia package that was approved in the final hours of the previous NPP government for MPs, the Former President and other public officials.

A breakdown by party affiliation suggests that the new president enjoys favourable cross-party public support. Among those who indicated voting NDC in the December 28, 2008 election, President Atta Mills’ approval stands at 88 percent; among those who indicated voting for NPP, the president’s approval rating stands at 73 percent.

Among those who described themselves as “swing” voters or preferred not to mention party affiliation, the president's approval rating is 71 percent.

The survey also finds that, after two months in office, President Atta Mills’ personal image is extremely strong. Overwhelming majorities view President Atta Mills as the “change” agent (75%) and the “right” leader (77%), while an even higher percentage (93%) says he is trustworthy.

The survey's release comes just over two months after President Atta Mills’ inauguration. Fifty-five percent of those polled said President Atta Mills has so far met their “initial” expectations, and another 19 percent suggested that he's exceeded their “initial” expectations. Nearly one in ten or 9 percent said that the president has fallen short of what they initially expected.

The Policy & Strategy Associates, Inc. poll was conducted by field researchers in Ghana from Saturday March 7, 2009 through Monday March 9, 2009 with 1,068 people of voting-age scientifically sampled. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Policy & Strategy Associates, Inc. national region-by-region pre-election poll published on November 15, 2008 predicted an Atta Mills win in a Report which opened with the statement: “the NDC's Atta Mills enters the final month of the Election 2008 Campaign in a very favourable position to be elected President of the Republic of Ghana, having made significant inroads on formerly NPP turf, while NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo plays competitive defence.” Post-election analyses of the actual results show that the predictions contained in the Report largely played out in the regions surveyed.

Policy & Strategy Associates, Inc.

Email: policystrategy@consultant.com