Exposing 46 'campaign lies' of former President John Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama will be appearing as Presidential Candidate for the NDC, once again, in December 2024, as Ghana goes to the polls to choose a President.

Mahama, following the completion of late President Mills' remaining six months as President, as well as his own full term from 2013 to 2017, will be the only former President on the ballot, seeking to be voted for again as President.

What this means is that Mahama, as a former president who has led this country before, has a history and a record as President, as far as campaign promises and delivering those promises are concerned.

Prior to his election in 2012 as President, Mahama made promises and also presented a manifesto to the people of Ghana, titled "advancing the better Ghana agenda," to woo Ghanaians to vote for him.

Majority of Ghanaians, perhaps, were wooed by the sweet promises of John Mahama in 2012 and voted for him to be Ghana's 4th President of the 4th Republic from 2012 to 2017.

Last Saturday in Tamale, the former President launched another campaign, seeking to win the votes of Ghanaians to return to the Presidency after he lost power in 2016 and failed at the polls again in 2020. The campaign launch, unsurprisingly, was full of yet another promise by the former President and his party officials, many of whom served in his erstwhile government.

As Mahama has launched his campaign, laced with promises, it is important to interrogate how he fared the last time he made juicy promises to Ghanaians and was given the opportunity to lead the country between 2012 and 2017.

It is important for questions to be asked of the former President, especially for young voters who have just turned 18 years and are eligible to vote, to know how the only former President who will be on the ballot in the 2024 elections, performed when they were 12 years, as far as some major promises he made to the country are concerned.

To intensely interrogate John Mahama's history on making promises and fulfilling same or otherwise, is essential in taking what he is promising now seriously or not.

Unfortunately, a detailed analysis of former President Mahama's 2012 Manifesto revealed that the former President, after being elected as President, did not fulfil many lavish promises he made to the people of Ghana in many sectors.

As many as 46 major promises made by John Mahama during the 2012 elections were not fulfilled after Ghanaians voted for him as President.

Below are the 46 unfulfilled promises by John Mahama as President of Ghana. You may call them lies or deception by Mahama, but the fact is that he made these lavish promises, but he failed to fulfill or achieve them as President.

Interestingly, as President, Mahama had four years, or 1460 days, to fulfil these promises, but he could not until he heavily lost the 2016 election.

Here they are, the promises, as contained in the 2012 NDC Manifesto, which is publicly available for scrutiny.

1. Strengthen the CHRAJ to fight corruption - even without an "explicit complainant".

Verdict: unfulfilled

2. Abolish the Office of Accountability that Ghanaians believe protects corrupt officials.

Verdict: unfulfilled

3. Revise the law on Asset Declaration to increase transparency and accountability.

Verdict: unfulfilled

4. Enact a Freedom of Information Bill so the public has access to official information to enhance the fight against corruption.

Verdict: unfulfilled

5. Place 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 efficiency and transparency.

Verdict: unfulfilled

7. Reverse Ghana's image as an easy target for money laundering and drug transport points.

Verdict: unfulfilled. Ghana was internationally renowned as a drug transit point.

8. Introduce special tax rates to financial institutions that lend to priority sectors, agriculture, industry, services and micro-, small and medium sized businesses and pensions.

Verdict: unfulfilled

9. Develop limestone deposits at Buipe, Nauli and Nadowli for cement.

Verdict: unfulfilled

10. Rejuvenate 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 per year.

Verdict: unfulfilled

12. Support salt processing to benefit the communities and the petrochemical industry.

Verdict: unfulfilled

13. Rehabilitate abandoned but viable manufacturing enterprises, such as Kumasi Jute, Aboso Glass, Tannery and Coir Fibre, and Pomadze Poultry.

Verdict: unfulfilled

14. Explore an integrated Iron and Steel industry at Oppon Manso.

Verdict: unfulfilled

15. Create a special pension scheme to encourage farmers and fishermen associations.

Verdict: unfulfilled

17. Set up a Ghana Commodities Exchange to provide post-harvest infrastructure and trading standards.

Verdict: unfulfilled

18. Process at least 60% of the cocoa produced locally, including plans for another cocoa processing factory in the Western Region to reduce transport problems and increase jobs.

Verdict: unfulfilled

19. Improve fish stocks through education and enforcement by an equipped Navy.

Verdict: unfulfilled

20. Reduce post-harvest losses: increase storage, processing, freezers and ice facilities.

Verdict: unfulfilled

21. Correct the quality and management problems of pre-mix fuel.

Verdict: unfulfilled

22. Improve the capacity of small-scale operations and reduce illegal galamsey.

Verdict: unfulfilled

23. Implement a One-time national health insurance premium.

Verdict: unfulfilled

24. Pay licensed teachers a professional allowance of 15% of the basic salary.

Verdict: unfulfilled

25. Pay technical-vocational education teachers an addition 10% allowance of basic salary.

Verdict: unfulfilled

26. Pay teachers in deprived areas an additional allowance of 20% of basic salary.

Verdict: unfulfilled

27. Schools under trees will end 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: Kumasi through Wa to Hamile.

Verdict: unfulfilled

30. Establish 2 more landing points on the Volta River to reduce transport distances.

Verdict: unfulfilled

31. Develop the petrochemical industry utilizing local and imported natural gas and Ghana salt.

Verdict: unfulfilled

32. Double TOR's capacity toward processing Ghana's oil.

Verdict: unfulfilled

33. constructing two hundred (200) new Community Day Senior High Schools where these do not exist.

Verdict: unfulfilled

34. Establish ten (10) new Colleges of Education in the medium term to be located in areas currently not well-served and in anticipation of the increase in student numbers on account of our increased access to education programme;

Verdict: unfulfilled

35. An average GDP growth rate of at least 8% per annum;

Verdict: unfulfilled

36. A single digit rate of inflation;

Verdict: unfulfilled

37. An overall budget deficit equivalent to 5% of GDP.

Verdict: unfulfilled

38. Gross international reserves that will cover not less than four months of imports.

Verdict: unfulfilled

39. Overall, our economic policies and programmes will aim at the attainment of a per capita income of at least US$2,300 by year 2016.

Verdict: unfulfilled

40. An integrated petroleum industry based on bauxite;

Verdict: unfulfilled

41. A petro-chemical industry based on salt and natural gas;

Verdict: unfulfilled

42. A fertilizer industry to give impetus to agro-development.

Verdict: unfulfilled

43. A salt-based chemical industry for caustic soda.

Verdict: unfulfilled

44. Allied consumer products and exports based on oil and gas; and • An integrated iron and steel industry based on the iron ore deposits at Oppon Manso in the Western Region

Verdict: unfulfilled

45. Address gender inequality by ensuring the expeditious enactment of the Affirmative Action Act

Verdict: unfulfilled

46. To establish a commission of enquiry to investigate matters related to public land acquisitions.

Verdict: unfulfilled