Mahama’s failure to state his position on Free SHS caused his heavy defeat in 2020 – Ben Ephson
Managing Editor of the Dispatch newspaper in Ghana, Mr Ben Ephson has disclosed that former President John Dramani Mahama find it difficult to capture power in the 2020 general elections “due to his failure to state clearly his position on the implementation of the free senior high school programme”.
The pollster, Mr Ephson disclosed that a lot of people were not sure of Mr Mahama’s plan for the free SHS hence “the heavy defeat, with the over 500,000 votes margin he suffered.”
Mr Ephson was sharing his comments on the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) five-year forecast for Ghana report released on April 13, 2022, which projected a conditional win for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2024 elections but with a different flag bearer aside from Mr Mahama as their candidate.
The EIU stated that “Our baseline forecast is that ongoing public dissatisfaction with the slow pace of improvements in governance—such as infrastructure development, job creation and easing of corruption—will trigger anti-incumbency factors and push the electorate to seek a change.
They further mentioned that “The NDC, therefore, stands a reasonable chance of winning the 2024 elections”.
Despite a highly acrimonious party-political landscape, the EIU report reiterated that it expects Ghana’s underlying political stability to endure over the forecast period.
The EIU further said “A razor-thin NPP-led working majority in parliament (with 138 out of 275 seats) implies that achieving consensus on contentious reforms, including planned tax rises, will prove tumultuous. In November 2021 the minority government rejected the proposed 2022 budget bill over the introduction of an electronic-transaction levy (e-levy); this was later reversed, and the 2022 budget bill was passed by an NPP-led majority, albeit without the e-levy clause”.
“Similar issues with achieving consensus on major legislation will slow policymaking and test the government’s strength throughout the remainder of its term (until 2024). We expect a transfer of power to the NDC in the 2024 elections, driven by anti-incumbency factors and public dissatisfaction with the current government.
With the hope of policy continuity, the EIU stated that “irrespective of who retains power, we expect policy continuity in the medium term, with a focus on improving food security, industrialisation and economic diversification. The new government will face similar challenges to its predecessor, but overall political stability will prevail”.
