The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has questioned claims of economic progress under President John Dramani Mahama, arguing that improvements in the exchange rate have not eased rising living costs or delivered promised jobs one year into his administration.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s The Forum, on Saturday (10 January) Ross Osei Owusu, a member of the NPP’s legal team, said basic commodities, building materials and utility tariffs have all increased over the past year, undermining government assertions of economic recovery.
Impact
Owusu cited a series of electricity and water tariff increases approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in 2025, including hikes of 14.75% for electricity and 4.02% for water in May, followed by further electricity increases in July and October, and sharp adjustments of 9.86% for electricity and 15.92% for water announced ahead of Christmas.
“If you pick our basic commodities on the market, all of them have virtually seen increments in the last year,” Owusu said. “If cement prices are rising and utilities are going up, then what has the better exchange rate really done for the economy?”
He said the cumulative impact of the increases far outweighed gains from recent single-digit adjustments to base pay.
“This is a big slap to the ordinary Ghanaian,” he said. “How much was increased in base pay, about nine percent, and look at what people have been asked to absorb.”
Flagship programmes
Owusu also criticised the government’s handling of its flagship 24-hour economy policy, which he said had not been implemented as promised during the election campaign.
“In Nana Akufo-Addo’s time, Free SHS was implemented almost immediately,” he said. “The second coming of John Mahama’s flagship programme was the 24-hour economy. Can anyone honestly say it has been duly implemented?”
He argued that limited extended working hours at institutions such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the ports did not amount to the three-shift system promised and warned that the policy’s core objective of job creation was being undermined.
“There is something the 24-hour economy is supposed to be associated with, and that is jobs,” Owusu said. “You cannot tell us DVLA is doing 24 hours while people are being sacked.”
Defence
President Mahama’s government has defended its record, pointing to currency stability and ongoing consultations on the 24-hour economy as evidence that reforms are on track, but debate over whether economic gains are translating into real relief for households continues to intensify.
For Presidential Aide, Rosemond Obeng, the administration of President John Dramani Mahama had reversed economic decline marked by rising living costs and widespread hardship.
“Looking at the cruel haircut, cost of living, there was even a point in time that Ghana Statistical Service came out with an analysis that about 8.5 million people in the country, which is about a quarter of our country, sleep on an empty stomach every day,” Obeng said.
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