An Economist Professor Godfred Bokpin has urged President John Dramani Mahama to take bold and sometimes unpopular decisions that will secure Ghana’s long-term development.
According to him, the president now has the political space and support needed to implement far-reaching policies that will benefit the country in the years to come.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Prof. Bokpin noted that President Mahama was not given sufficient room to govern effectively during his first term in office from 2013 to 2016.
“So if you look at Mahama’s second term versus his first term, our president has the peace of mind now to govern. Between 2012 and 2016, or 2013 and 2016, we really never allowed the president to govern. But now there is some kind of support, broad-based support. So the president should take advantage of that, not to only do populist things that will please us in the short term, but painful decisions that will yield medium to long-term survivability. Because that is how the president will be remembered,” he emphasized.
Prof. Bokpin cited Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, as an example of a leader who, though often unpopular in his time, made decisions that laid the foundation for the nation’s future.
“Nkrumah, to a large extent, was a bit unpopular for some of the major things he was doing. Because people were looking for milk, chocolate, and biscuits, but Nkrumah was looking at Ghana in 100 years,” he said.
Stakeholders have lauded President Mahama for subjecting his administration to public accountability through a 120-day social contract, a bold move that set clear timelines for delivering on key promises.
Since taking office in January 2025, the president has committed to fulfilling 26 priority pledges outlined in the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) 2024 manifesto within his first four months in office.
Government data indicates that 19 of these promises have already been fulfilled, two are in progress, while five remain outstanding.
These include the review of taxes on vehicles, implementation of the 24-hour economy, a crackdown on illegal mining, a review of the Customs Amendment Act of 2020, and the introduction of legislation to streamline government scholarship awards.
The administration is also working to reopen investigations into by-election-related killings and to rid state security institutions of vigilante influences.
Additionally, Ghana’s economy has shown signs of recovery, with the cedi experiencing a remarkable appreciation against the US dollar since January 2025.
According to Bloomberg, the Ghanaian cedi is currently the world’s best-performing currency since April and is trading at approximately GH₵12.09 to the dollar.
