John Dramani Mahama
Since 1992, Ghana has had five different presidents, three of whom have had
two terms of four years totalling eight years each. Late President John Evans
Atta Mills had his first tenure truncated by nature.
Former President John Dramani Mahama took over the mantle of leadership and completed the remaining few months of the late President before winning the 2012 general election to assume his own mandate. However, he was denied a second term
by the electorates in 2016.
Former president Mahama is contesting again in the upcoming 2024 elections
hence, the need to analyse his first term to ascertain whether he deserves
another term or not.
This article analyzes former president Mahama’s first term based on secondary
quantitative data gathered from some relevant state institutions. Let’s start
with his challenges and how he dealt with them and analyze his achievements
based on the data if there were any.
Challenges Mahama faced:
Election Petition:
The first major challenge that confronted John Mahama during his presidency
was the election petition challenging his victory. The then-opposition New
Patriotic Party did not believe John Mahama won the 2012 election; they
consequently filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the results. The
petition dragged on for about eight months before the court affirmed that he
won the election as declared by the Electoral Commission. Undoubtedly, this affected his presidency, as did the uncertainty of not knowing what the verdict would be.
Energy Crises:
Immediately after the election petition, former president Mahama was hit with
another major challenge. Between 2013 and 2015, there was massive energy
crises that affected businesses, productivity, and growth. The generational
reoccurrences of the energy crises were attributed to decades of lack of
investment in the energy sector.
The former president procured two major emergency power plants, i.e.
the Karpowership 450MW and the AMERI plant 250MW to address the energy
crises. Undoubtedly, businesses were hit by the energy crises, and jobs and livelihoods were lost, but the generational problem was eventually solved by the former president by the end of December 2015.
Mahama’s achievements:
Quantitative data gathered from the Ministry of Health website, Ghana
Educational services and other relevant sources revealed the following projects undertaken between 2012 and 2016.
The construction of Terminal (T3) of Kotoka International Airport, a 420-bed
Accra Regional Hospital, 617-bed Unit University of Ghana Medical Hospital,
Bank of Ghana Medical Hospital, Circle Interchange, Tamale Airport, Second phase of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Expansion Project, Kumasi Airport expansion, Ho Airport, Kejetia Market project between 2012 and 2016.
Moreover, between 2012 and 2016, Bolgatanga Regional Hospital had 160-bed
Upper West Regional Hospital and the 250-bed Ashanti Regional Hospital at
Sewua-Kumasi, 500-bed Afari Military Hospital Project in Kumasi, 104-bed
Police Hospital Project and 130-bed Maritime Hospital in Tema constructed. The Accra Digital Centre (ADC), Kumawu Hospital, Asawase, Tafo, Krofuom, and Kotokoraba markets were also constructed between 2012 and 2016.
The Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank), the Bukom Sports Complex,
Saglemi Housing Project, expansion of the Takoradi Habour and 124 E-Blocks
were constructed in John Mahama’s first term.
John Mahama also completed the Teshie desalination plant and the Kpong water
expansion project, the ATMA project to expand access to urban water supply
in Accra, the Wa water supply project, and the 3Ks project, covering Kumawu,
Konongo and Kwahu.
In the road sector, some of the major roads constructed during this period are:
Achimota-Ofankor, Awoshie-Pokuase, Sofoline, Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta, the
Kasoa overhead bridge, the Airport Hills/Burma Camp network of roads, the
37-El Wak-Trade Fair road and the continuation of the Eastern Corridor roads.
Economy:
By December 2016, the data indicates that 1 United States Dollar (USD) was
equal to GHC 4.1 (he inherited 1 to 2) and 1 Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
was equal to GHC 5.90 (he inherited 1 to 3.2). The country’s Debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 54 percent, the national debt stock had reached
GHC 122.6 billion.
The year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
was 15.4 percent in December 2016, down by 0.1 percentage point from the
15.5 percent recorded in November 2016.
Corruption:
Despite the allegations of corruption, in 2016, Transparency International’s
released their corruption perception index (CPI) and the NDC's is their worst
performance of 43 since 2009, yet it was better than the NPP’s best CPI
performance of 41 in 2023.
The data indicate that John Mahama prosecuted his own appointees, which is
rare in Ghanaian politics. He prosecuted his appointee, the former Executive
Director of the National Service, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, in 2015 for stealing
GHC100 million.
He also prosecuted his own party member and appointed Mr. Abuga Pele for
corruption, who was jailed for 6 years. Mr. Abuga Pele is the former NDC
Member of Parliament for the Chiana-Paga constituency, and the former head of
the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA).
Facts:
There were allegations of corruption and economic challenges under his
regime. However, in four years of his presidency, he contributed to
the infrastructural development of this country than any other president since
1992. He has invested in the country’s energy, water, health, education, technology, roads and transport, economy, housing, and agriculture sectors.
Verdict:
Based on the facts derived from the relevant data on former president
Mahama’s first tenure, his contributions to infrastructural development in all
sectors are the highest since 1992, with 60 major physical infrastructural
projects in the country in four years. John Dramani Mahama deserves a second
term.
