SONA25: Mahama’s claim about Sinking Fund untrue; I dare him to publish the balance

Tano North Member of Parliament and former Spokesperson at the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Gideon Boako, has refuted President John Dramani Mahama’s claim about the amount left in the Sinking Fund by the NPP administration.

The President, who ended his first term in 2017, said at the time, his administration left $250 million in the Sinking Fund to service debt for the successive administration led by Nana Akufo-Addo.

However, the President said this was not the case when the NPP left office. After eight years in power, they left only $64,000 and GHS 143 million in the dollar and cedi accounts, respectively.

Delivering the State of the Nation Address at Parliament House in Accra on Thursday, February 27, the President said the repercussions of reckless debt accumulation and economic mismanagement will require extensive work and sacrifice to repair.

“In 2017, before we left office, we allocated US$250 million to the Sinking Fund to service debt. While there have been claims that buffers were left for debt repayment, the statement of accounts for the Debt Service Reserve Account, also known as the Sinking Fund, shows a balance of only $64,000 and GHS 143 million in the dollar and cedi accounts, respectively,” he stated.

But reacting on his social media page, NPP MP Dr. Gideon Boako said the balance disclosed by the President dates back to August 2024, which was the last time the NPP government made a third payment to domestic bondholders.

The lawmaker further challenged the current government to publish the latest balance for public verification.

“President Mahama goes again with another untruth about the balance in the Sinking Fund account. I challenged them weeks ago to publish the balance in the account as of 6th January 2025.

“They are only using the balance in the account as of the last time the NPP government made the third payment to domestic bondholders, which was August 2024. They refuse to tell us that there were build-ups into the account between August 2024 and January 2025.

“We had auction excess on 3rd January — over GHS 700 million in the fund, which was not spent. We left GHS 3 billion of end-of-year revenue also as buffer, plus many more unspent funds in various accounts,” Dr. Boako added.