Introduction: The State of the Nation address is a constitutional requirement for every new President upon winning a fresh general election. This special provision is carefully articulated in Article 67 of the 1992 constitution and captured as "The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the state of the nation.” For many, this represents another season of political renewal and expectations. Interestingly, the State of the Nation address is often historic, especially if a new government is voted for after sitting on the political sidelines for nearly four or eight years. A common trend has been that successive governments have described previous governments with unpalatable and unprintable words, which leaves a lacuna in the minds of right-thinking citizens regarding who is painting the accurate picture. This practice of political chastisement has significantly influenced the political discourse in Ghana, often leading to a cycle of blame and defensiveness among leaders. In this essay, I will carefully scrutinise the State of the Nation address from 2001 to 2025, with the aim of encouraging a more constructive political discourse among Ghanaian leaders.
A purposive methodological consideration is adopted to consider the State of the Nation address for 2001, 2009, 2016 and 2025. These years represented when a new government had taken over the governance machinery after being in opposition for 8 years. It could be recalled that President Kufour took over from Former President Rawlings from 2001 to 2008. Former President Prof. Mills took over from 2009 to 2012 (i.e., Former and current President Mahama continuing from 2012 to 2016), Former President Akuffo Addo took over from 2017 to 2024 with President Mahama in 2025. The selection of these years signifies when these presidents described previous governments with numerous negative connotations, except for Prof J.E.A Mills (late).
Former President John Agyekum Kufour describing the Former Jerry John Rawlings’ government in 2001.
Quoting from page 2 of the State of the Nation Address 2001, the former President alluded, "The legacy we have inherited on the economic front is daunting. Mismanagement, mass unemployment, low wages, high cost of living, a rapidly depreciating currency, a colossal national debt, high dependency on foreign aid, declining educational and health opportunities, extensive corruption in public life, a cowed and demoralised private sector, hopelessness and despair—this is the legacy of the last two decades."
Quoting from page 3 of the State of the Nation Address 2001, the former President further asserted, "The edifice, known locally as Job 600, stands in its uncompleted State as an eyesore and a disgrace to us all. This is meant to be the offices of our Parliamentarians and their support staff. The World Bank, at the request of Parliament, provided an amount of 25 million dollars to support the completion of the project. But we now find that part of the money meant for the project was misapplied, causing the delay in completing the work."
"But perhaps even more alarming is the physical State of the Presidency. The Castle is in a state of gloomy disrepair. Flagstaff House, the home of our first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has been abandoned to rats and looks like the ruins of a bygone era. The President has no official residence, and there are no offices for the Presidency. Ironically, this is an era of executive Presidential government."
Quoting from page 4, “Those in positions of authority have sought to use fear as an instrument of power. Hence, the very seat of government, the Castle, conjures images of oppression and fear in the minds of our people. My government intends to remove fear from our politics and demystify the business of government, making public officials servants of the public instead of the demigods they, more often than not, pretend to be. Public service is a noble calling, not intended to be an avenue for plunder and loot."
Quoting from page 6, "The past year has been a poor one for our country economically. We were well aware of that before our inauguration into office. But discovering the depth and extent of our financial plight since our inauguration on 7th January has been as shocking as it has been sobering." The total debt stock of our country stood at 41.1 trillion cedis at the end of December 2000. Out of this amount, 31.7 trillion, or US$ 5.8 billion, was external, and 9.4 trillion cedis, or US$1.7 billion, was domestic." The institutions that should have acted as watchdogs to confront the problems of inefficiency and corruption as they arose failed catastrophically."
The former President concluded, "The Minister of Finance will address fully in his budget statement the various measures we shall be taking to tackle the weaknesses in our economy, but I can say now that we shall all have to take some very hard decisions. The debilitating effects of excessive debt on our economy are well known, and we are fully committed to reviewing and examining all potential instruments for debt management, including accessing the Highly Indebted Poor Countries debt relief initiative."
Former President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills described the former President John Agyekum Kufour’s government in 2009.
Historically, Prof. Mills, of blessed memory, is iconic because he is on record as the only President to have acknowledged his predecessors for their stewardship. His respectful acknowledgment of their service to the nation set him apart from his predecessors and earned him respect. What a man and President he was. Prof. Mills, you will forever live (emphasis mine).
Quoting from page 1, “Madam Speaker, permit me to acknowledge my predecessors, President Jerry John Rawlings and President John Agyekum Kufour. Ghana is indeed grateful to them for their service to our Nation. We are also grateful to them for moving our democracy further along the path to maturation. As the third President of Ghana's Fourth Republic, I will play my part to add to their legacy. We will learn as a nation to add to what is working and to change course only when it is in the national interest.
The late former President made a commendable prophetic (scholastic) statement: “We shall depart from the practice of undoing valuable contributions of our predecessors. A house that is constantly rebuilding its foundation is doomed to remain stuck to the foundation level, never to reach completion and decoration, let alone occupation.”
Though Ghana faced some inherited challenges, the President was candid and focused on what was due to Ghanaians instead of the usual lamentations. This is something successive presidents should learn from.
Former President Akuffo-Addo describing the former President John Dramani Mahama’s government in 2017.
The usual lamentations resurfaced on page 2: "Mr. Speaker, to give a fair account of the State of our Nation, I have to give an account of the State of our economy, of our governance and our national culture and attitudes. Mr. Speaker, I say nothing new or dramatic, when I tell this Honourable House that the economy of our country is in a bad way. After all, in the run-up to the recent elections, I said so, often and loudly. Some six weeks after taking over the reins of government, it gives me no pleasure to have to say that our worst fears have been confirmed, plus a few additional unpleasant surprises as well.”
Quoting from page 3, "Mr. Speaker, the increasing fiscal deficits were financed by increased borrowing. As at the beginning of 2009, Ghana’s total debt stock was GH9.5 billion. By the end of 2016, the debt stock had ballooned to GH122 billion. Ghana’s debt stock now stands at 74% of GDP, after all the previous denials to the contrary. More debt was accumulated by the previous government in the last eight years than all other governments put together since independence. In fact, 92% of Ghana’s total debt stock was incurred in the last eight years under the previous government.
Quoting from page 4, "Mr. Speaker, low growth, rising rate of unemployment, high fiscal deficits, high and rising debt, and increased depreciation of the cedi, high cost of food, housing and utilities and high non-performing loans, amongst others, are symptoms of deeper structural problem that will require a range of reforms, beginning immediately and spanning the short, medium and long terms. We are going to have to implement some tough, prudent and innovative policies to get out of this financial cul-de-sac and rescue this economy, restore fiscal discipline and debt sustainability, as well as increase economic growth.
But I was not elected by the overwhelming majority of the Ghanaian people to complain. I was elected to get things done. I was elected to fix what is broken, and my government and I are determined to do just that. It is not surprising, therefore, that food prices are high and we are having to import almost everything we eat, including vegetables, from our Sahelian neighbours.
Quoting from page 8, "We have inherited a heavily indebted energy sector, with the net debt reaching 2.4 billion US dollars as of December 2016. It is Ghana beyond aid."
President John Mahama describing the former President Akufo-Addo’s government in 2025.
Quoting from page 4," The election result gave us an important opportunity to change course and move off the slippery slopes our country had been descending on that had caused so much economic pain, suffering, and grief.
Quoting from page 5, “Mr. Speaker, it is not my style to lament and shift blame when confronted with challenges, as others often do. My approach is to accept challenges and work hard to resolve them. Indeed, that is precisely what the people of Ghana elected me to do.”
Quoting from page 6, “It is common knowledge that our economy is in dire straits, which is putting it mildly because, after an initial assessment of the books, we have discovered that our economic problems are much deeper than was publicly known. We have inherited a country that is broken on many fronts. The profundities of the challenges are staggering. We are saddled with staggering debts and glaring signs of almost deliberate and, in some cases, criminal mismanagement of our resources. After setting an inflation target of 18% by the end of 2024, the actual rate was 23.8%, significantly exceeding the IMF threshold. The Ghana cedi continued its downward slide, losing 19% of its value against the dollar in 2024. It had already lost 27.8% in value in 2023.”
According to page 7, “In addition to the public debt, which amounts to a staggering GHS 721 billion, several State-Owned Enterprises are also in debt, including ECG, which owes GHS 68 billion. Ghana Cocoa Board—the hope of cocoa farmers—is also highly indebted. Its balance sheet indicates a total debt of GHS 32.5 billion, of which GHS 9.7 billion is due to be paid at the end of September 2025. In the 2023/2024 crop season, COCOBOD could not supply three hundred and thirty-three thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven (333,767) tonnes of cocoa, which it sold at US$ 2,600 per tonne. As a result, the then management of COCOBOD rolled over these contracts into the 2024/2025 cocoa season.”
Quoting from page 13, “Despite collecting over GHS 45 billion in Energy Sector Levies (ESLA) over the last eight years, the outgone NPP administration has left the Ghanaian people an energy sector burdened with a staggering GHS 70 billion debt as of December 2024. It is of deep concern that several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the energy sector are struggling to stay afloat. Unless urgent interventions are made, many of them will go under.”
Conclusion: My concern is, in whose interest are our leaders chastising previous governments whilst they come to repeat similar mistakes? Previous governments have condemned the same acts they have often repeated and even done worse. At least we have an example to learn from in Prof. John Evans Mills, who acknowledged previous presidents despite all the challenges he inherited. Ghana has a long way to go if we should toe the line of always accusing previous presidents. Is it by way of custom to always criticise as seen in their respective State of the Nation address? Are these presidents, with the greatest of humility, reading from the same template? If not, our presidents should focus on delivering their key policies; after all, Ghanaians deserve better. Long live Ghana.
Felix Oppusu Paapa Agyiri (PhD-candidate)
[Educational Sociologist]
[email protected]
+233557430188
West Africa’s democracy requires open-heart surgery — ECOWAS Political Affairs C...
Kennedy Agyapong donates GH¢1 million to settle NPP workers salary arrears
NPP's Planting for Food and Jobs programme was built on fraud – Peasant Farmers ...
FIC probes McDan, Wontumi over alleged money laundering
NPP, NDP, LPG, other political parties to protest CJ Torkornoo’s suspension on M...
Ashanti Regional Police Command demand release of military officers who shot, ki...
CJ Torkornoo’s suspension threatens gender parity in leadership — FIDA-Ghana
The gun Stonebwoy pulled at the 2019 VGMAs was a toy — Ayisha Modi
I’ll make Stonebwoy suffer the way I made Shatta Wale suffer — Ayisha Modi
Mahama planning to pack SC with NDC loyalists to pursue a third term — NPP, othe...
