The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an important event for any country, as it serves several key purposes that contribute to the democratic process and governance. When properly researched it provides the following;
- Transparency and Accountability – The President is provided with an opportunity to inform the entire country on the state of the nation. Additionally, it provides citizens with the information necessary to hold the government accountable.
- Communication of Government Priorities – the address is a platform for the President to outline the government’s priorities and future plans, by setting the agenda for the coming year.
- Strengthening Democracy – the SONA is practiced in many democracies. It strengthens the democratic process by ensuring the President and his administration are answerable to the people through the elected representatives in Parliament. It also reinforces Parliament’s oversight role in the democratic process and entrenches checks and balances required.
- International Engagement – in Ghana, as in other democratic states, the SONA is also a key point of communicating government policy to foreign governments, investors, and international organisations. This is one reason why the diplomatic community is invited to witness the event.
- Policy Propositions and Direction –the SONA is also an opportunity to highlight government’s identification of key challenges facing the country, and the proposed solutions that are expected to be undertaken in order to address these challenges.
In sum, the State of the Nation Address is a vital tool in governance and democracy, as it fosters direct communication between the head of government and the citizens, as part of the social contract and a constitutional requirement in Ghana. It is enshrined in Article 67 of the Constitution of Ghana (1992) as follows:
Article 67: The President’s Address to Parliament
- “The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament, and before the dissolution of Parliament, deliver a message on the State of the Nation.”
- “The message referred to in clause (1) shall be delivered in the form of an address to Parliament, and the address shall be read in Parliament.”
While this clause does not provide details of what is expected in the SONA, the convention on the state of the nation all over the world covers the issues raised above. H.E President John Dramani Mahama’s presentation to Parliament on the 27th of February 2025 largely complied with all the tenets of a SONA.
In his address to the nation, the President covered a number of key national issues which he highlighted as major challenges facing the country, such as:
Inflation – On the issue of inflation, the President indicated that even though the target was 18% for year ending 2024, the actual rate ended up being 23.8%. He added that this significantly exceeded the IMF threshold. This affected the Ghana cedi leading to a year-end loss of 19% of its value against the dollar in 2024, in addition to a 27.8% loss in value in 2023.
Ghana’s Debt – On the issue of the national debt, he indicated that Ghana is “saddled with staggering debts and glaring signs of almost deliberate and, in some cases, criminal mismanagement of our resources,” pointing out, “Not even the restraints of an IMF programme were enough for the previous economic managers to exercise prudence in managing our finances.” These losses are reflected in the negative balances of account of key state institutions that play critical roles in the national economy.
State Owned Enterprises – The SOEs constitute a significant sector of the economy and is estimated to be worth a third of the economy. Over the years, not much attention has been given to the sector. This sector, which includes heavy weight organisations like the Electricity Company of Ghana and Cocobod were also mentioned in the SONA. ECG alone owes 68 billion while Cocobod owes 32.5 billion. He inferred that these losses were because of mismanagement and corruption.
Energy Sector – The energy sector is one of the key components of the economy. Previous challenges of the sector continue to overhang the economy making it an imperative for mention by the President. He indicated that the sector faces “significant financing challenges primarily due to collection and system losses, non-compliance with the Cash Waterfall Mechanism, and legacy debts.” The total shortfall in financing for 2025 was estimated at 2.2 billion dollars, with looming challenges with supply of gas, crude oil production decline, debt servicing obligations and stalled projects because of challenges.
Corruption – The President outlined the challenges with corruption and mentioned the National Service Authority scandal particularly. He indicated that as part of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) policy, he has already tasked the investigative bodies “to bring the culprits of the National Service ghost names scandal to justice. He noted that “such brazen theft of public funds must be stopped and punished.”
On key successes, the President outlined the honouring of payments under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) that were due in February 2025. He indicated that total matured coupon payments of 9.541 billion had been paid, adding that additional buffers had been built into the sinking fund to cater for future payments.
On new policy initiatives, he outlined the following;
- Establishment of the National Economic Dialogue Planning Committee. This dialogue would discuss issues relative to state of the economy and the home-grown policies required to resolve them.
- Agriculture and Food Security interventions to be implemented including the Poultry Farm to Table Project and Nkoko Nkitinkiti project meant to benefit 55,000 households.
- Key initiatives for Youth Employment and Education, targeting support for businesses, apprentices, introduction of rural teachers allowances and review and enhancement of free SHS programme. Specifically on education, the President indicated the restoration of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), elimination of the double track system, decentralisation of the procurement for school feeding and establishment of technical and vocational education and training centres of excellence.
- On health, the President promised to complete the agenda 111 projects, mitigate the impact of the suspension of USAID support for health and a commitment to cleaner cities to improve community hygiene and sanitation, among others.
- On the roads sector, he disputed the figure of 13,000 kilometres of new roads constructed by the previous government and promised to prioritise critical roads and find the 105 billion needed to address the infrastructure backlog.
- On illegal mining, he promised to address forest degradation and mining challenges by expanding the Minerals Commission for better oversight. He also indicated that there would be initiation of alternative livelihood programmes.
- On security, the President touched on security agency reforms, border security and strengthened commitment to regional security.
The President ended his SONA by emphasizing the need for “Consultation and consensus building” and requested the participation of the opposition in the National dialogue. He added that “Ghana’s greatest strength lies in its people—its young and energetic youth. If we stand united, we can be more resilient and build, together, the power of collective action to overcome economic and social challenges.”
The reactions to the speech have differed as expected along party lines. While the majority leader echoed the President’s sentiments that “things are truly bleak and that the President was offering hope, the Minority Leader sought to portray otherwise. He indicated that the President’s address was full of lamentations and declared that it was President Mahama’s duty to fix things.
The President’s address came across as informative, with a determination to deal with issues that he considered important for growth and development. Key policy interventions relative to the economy and his willingness to be held personally accountable for them seemed reassuring.
Nation states are not built by individuals but by the collective actions of the populace. All that is required is the right leadership to engage, direct, encourage and bring all key stakeholders to the table in the national development effort. His call on all, including the opposition to join hands to make a difference is heartwarming. It is indicative of a leader who is ready to learn from others and tap into alternative ways of doing things irrespective of where those ideas may be originating. For a President who is serving his last term, it will do him a lot of good if he can gather the best of ideas from across the aisle and use them to forge a better and stronger Ghana as a legacy.
On international relations, CISA finds it gratifying that he is willing to make overtures to other nations to ensure improved trade and movement across the Ecowas region. This is particularly important in the light of the security challenges facing a region that has witnessed armed conflicts, mass migration, large-scale narcotic drug trafficking and the proliferation of firearms.
Going forward, the youth and the economy will continue to be a challenge. CISA believes that a proper refocus on the public sector, through the setting of targets for CEOs and Boards would bring significant benefits. The Public Enterprises are made up of the State-Owned Enterprises, Joint Venture Companies and Other State Entities. It is sad that over the years, the Joint Venture Companies pay far more dividend to the state, whereas entirely state-owned entities remain uncompetitive. The possibility exists for the SOEs and OSEs to do more. They constitute a third of the economy and if they are held accountable, they would deliver. The President can achieve this turnaround by not hesitating to fire any appointees who do not deliver.
Conclusion
President Mahama has a unique opportunity to be successful, given the mandate from the Ghanaian electorate and his own charisma, and the experience gained from his first term in office. Now is the time to walk the talk.
In all, the Centre for Intelligence and Security Analysis (CISA-Ghana) believes that he covered the broad areas that Ghanaians expected him to touch on. The collaboration must be extended particularly to the think tanks and the intelligence community as well to support in training and developing systems for early warning, community development and identification of risks and contagion from across the region. CISA also expects Ghanaians and the opposition to collaborate with the government as the President has clearly opened his doors and hopes the invitation is demonstrated in concrete terms. Both the government and the opposition must realise that they serve the interest of Ghanaians and not their egos or political parties. At the end of the day, building a better Ghana must be the primary objective. The ordinary Ghanaian expect nothing less.
