Africa-Press – Ghana. In the lead up to the 2024 General Election, then candidate John Dramani Mahama outlined an ambitious raft of plans to reset the country and put Ghana on the path of economic recovery and social transformation.
In keeping with his promise after securing historic victory and taking office on January 7, 2025, President Mahama did not hesitate to deliver on his promise to the people in his first 120-days in office.
In a document, which is a sequel to the National Democratic Congress 2024 Manifesto, the President outlined 26 deliverables that would facilitate the reset agenda, setting the tone for the implementation of policies in the NDC’s Manifesto.
Notable among his promise was to nominate his Cabinet and constitute the leanest Government within 90 days in office.
This was achieved as the President announced his 19-Member cabinet on February 20, 2025 and has so far sworn into office 56 Ministers, four short of not more than 60 Ministers he promised.
The President also fulfilled his promise of scrapping the E-levy, COVID levy, 10 per cent levy on bet winnings, and Emissions levy, which he described as draconian.
President Mahama again convened a National Economic Dialogue to discuss the true state of the economy and prepare a homegrown fiscal and monetary consolidation programme to guide the budget and the national economic planning as a whole.
The national consultative conference on Education was also held to build consensus on needed adjustments and. improvements to the sector.
Key Manifesto policy interventions that have so far being implemented includes the Feed Ghana Programme, Free Sanitary Pad Initiative, One Million Coders Programme, Adwumawura Programme, and the National Apprenticeship Programme – all geared towards empowering the youth with employable skills.
Other policies that have been rolled out by the new Government includes the establishment of the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund, and the Tree For Life Initiative to plant seven million trees to restore the green cover and the environment.
The Government has also allocated seed money of GH₵51.3 million for the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank to give Ghanaian women credit to engage in all manner of business activities to improve their lot.
The President recently cut sod for the construction of a permanent village on the Spintex road, near the Kotoka International Airport, to provide decent temporary accommodation for Muslims embarking on Hajj.
On the fight against illegal mining, which was a major campaign promise, the Government has moved to tackle the issue head-on. However, reports from some mining areas suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the menace comprehensively.
Although the Government has made significant progress in its reset agenda, some key campaign promises are yet to be fulfilled.
Notable among the promises captured in the 120-day social contract yet to be implemented is the implementation of the ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions—universities, colleges of education, and nursing training institutions.
The promise to establish an Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC) to promote exports as part of a broader strategy for economic transformation has also not been fulfilled.
When hit the streets of Accra to talk to Ghanaians about the performance of President Mahama’s 120-day Social Contract, people shared varied opinions on the matter.
What stood out were the erratic power supply, youth unemployment and high cost of living.
Ms Edith Som, a National Service Person in her comment thanked President Mahama for honouring his 120-days social contract to the people.
She cited for example that the government had paid all allowances and arrears owed service personnel which were outstanding since 2024.
She however appealed to the government to resolve the intermittent power problems which she said was affecting people in some parts of the country.
Mr Alfred Nyarko, a shoe seller at the Accra Tema Station market, stated that though the President had fulfilled some of his campaign promises, he needed to tackle the rising unemployment of the youth and the erratic power supply in the system.
Wofa Yaw Asiama, a Commissioner of Oaths, said the President’s raft of promises was ambitious but with passion and resilience, he would have the full support and blessings of Ghanaians to make the country a better place than he found it.
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