In Defense Of Mahama

Ghanaians are usually forgiving when they vote a man into office and he wants a second term. Of the last elected presidents, all but one — got their four more years. Which is why the conventional wisdom long held that John Mahama would most likely weather his presidency slump to win another term.

Mahama has gone from a modest favorite to win re-election to, probably, a slight underdog. Let’s not oversell this. A couple of daily solid jobs reports would suffice to make him the favorite again.

Nevertheless, this is an unusual circumstance. Rawlings, Kufuor, all looked like the favorite to win a year in advance of their re-election battles.

Mahama's Presidency: The Facts

People have many perceptions of how the economy or the country as a whole has done in recent years. Depending on your political views, you may think the country is doing exceptionally well or is teetering on the verge of collapse.

Listed below are objective facts, without interjected opinion, about the state under the leadership of President Mahama.


1. We've now had straight months of economic expansion.

That’s right: For straight consecutive months, the economy has gotten progressively better. That includes a new record for consecutive months of private sector job growth.


2. We are currently enjoying the longest period of private sector job creation in our history.

3. Unemployment has dropped.


4. Biggest job growth since the '90's

It's accurate, as far as it goes, to say that Mahama presided over the largest spurt of job growth since the 1990s, but how remarkable is that, really? The six-year period from 2010 to 2016 saw the largest sustained increase in jobs since 1998 (more than 800,000 added), but what it also shows is how deep a trough labor had fallen into over the previous decade, and how depressed it remains to this day, despite a modicum of improvement.

5. The stock market continues to set new record highs since President Mahama took office.

Since early 2013, there has been a steady upward trend in stock market growth.

Additional Facts About Economic Gains with Mahama's Presidency

Although all of the facts stated above can be confirmed through multiple sources, most Ghanaians are not aware of these positive statistics. I invite you to do your own research and check these facts for yourself.

The truth is, most other presidents would envy President Mahama’s record which has flourished despite the fact that he and Mills inherited the results of the worst economic crash.


1. Deficit Spending - The major mark against Mahama is the increase in the national debt. Partly that was because he used deficit spending to stimulate the economy. It's been projected that deficits will fall in his second term.

2. In just 7 years under the NDC, there were more than three times as many jobs created as there were in the whole 8 years under John Kufuor.


The fact remains that the Ghanaian people are profoundly better off today than they were before President Mahama took office, in almost every measurable way.