Former Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, says President John Mahama has taken “some good steps” in his first year in office, but has fallen short of the core promises that won him the 2024 election.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ AM Show on Wednesday, January 7, while assessing President Mahama’s first year in office, Dr Amin Adam said the government’s biggest challenge remains job creation.

“At the end of it all, people are going to judge Mahama by the number of jobs he creates. That was the anchor message that Ghanaians bought into.”

Dr Amin Adam said while the government deserves some credit, performance so far does not match the promises made during the campaign.

“I think that President Mahama has taken some good steps. There’s no doubt about that, and we must commend him for that. Except that if you look at some of the specifics and you put that against their manifesto and their promises, then you will note that they still have a long way to go.”

He recalled that the centrepiece of the NDC’s campaign was not GoldBod or currency stability, but jobs through the proposed 24-hour economy.

“The 24-hour economy was the main premise of their campaign. It wasn’t GoldBod. The anchor message was job creation. You remember the one-three-three policy – one job, three people, three shifts.”

According to him, there has been little visible progress towards delivering that promise.

“I don’t think they have made a giant step towards achieving it. Even in the 2026 budget, I didn’t see any conscious budgeting that seeks to achieve that. Maybe in the next two or three years we will see something positive, but for now, I’m not convinced.”

Dr Amin Adam said that improvements in fuel prices and inflation cannot be credited solely to government policy.

“The effect of the cedi has already been internalised in the economy. You are not going to see any revolutionary effect from the cedi. You need something additional to fuel the performance of this government.”

He also questioned claims that fuel price reductions are driven mainly by currency stability. “You need to really analyse the oil market today. As I speak to you now, there is an oversupply of petroleum products in the country.”

Dr Amin Adam explained that increased local supply is playing a major role.

“Sentuo is supplying about 30 per cent of the oil in the market. We incentivised the building of Sentuo under our government. Oversupply leads to lower prices, so it’s not only the cedi.”

He added that measures such as VAT rationalisation will also lose impact over time. “That reduction will also be internalised,” he said.

Despite his criticisms, Dr Amin Adam said it is still early days for the Mahama administration.

“Mahama has just done one year,” he said. “Let’s see what happens in the second year and the third year. The first year of every government is usually different from subsequent years.”

He said Ghanaians will ultimately decide the government’s performance. “Let’s see how things go, and then Ghanaians will be the better judges,” he said.

Dr Amin Adam used the platform to appeal to delegates of the New Patriotic Party ahead of its internal elections.

“I want to appeal to the delegates of the NPP to vote wisely. And by voting wisely, to vote Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, because he is the shortest way to winning the 2028 election for the NPP.”