Economist and GIMPA lecturer Kwasi Nyame-Baafi has criticised President John Dramani Mahama’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), suggesting the speech may have been crafted in a way that left the President open to criticism.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Dr. Nyame-Baafi argued that a word-for-word analysis of the address gives the impression that Ghana’s economic challenges were resolved within just one year, a claim he says does not reflect the full reality.

“Some facts mentioned by the President in the SONA are correct. However, if you critically analyse the speech, it seems whoever wrote it intended to set the President up.

"The address suggests that the economy turned around in a single year, but objectively assessing Ghana’s situation requires examining how we reached our darkest economic moment in 2022,” he said.

Dr. Nyame-Baafi highlighted Ghana’s rising debt, noting it grew from $29.2 billion in 2016 to $53.9 billion in 2022, and stressed that both the NDC and NPP contributed to the accumulation over time.

He further argued that the current administration has benefited from difficult economic decisions made by the previous government, particularly the debt exchange programme.

He also questioned why the SONA did not address recent increases in public debt or specify projects justifying the borrowing.

“If we look at the numbers, from 2008 to 2016, our debt increased by 262%, and from 2017 to 2022, it rose by 85%.

Based on this, the NDC contributed more to the debt situation from 2009 to 2016 than the NPP. Both parties have played a role, but the current government is benefiting from the debt exchange programme, a tough decision undertaken by the NPP,” he said.

Dr. Nyame-Baafi added, “Our public debt increased by GHS72 billion from May to September last year. Why didn’t the SONA address this? What projects are causing this growth? Additionally, the President’s claim that Ghana ranks among Africa’s top economies is misleading.

"In 2016, our nominal GDP was about GHS 219 billion and by the end of the NPP administration, it had crossed 1 trillion."