IERPP defends 4.9/10 score for Mahama government, says one year is enough to assess promises
The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) has defended its decision to award President John Mahama’s administration 4.9 out of 10 in its first-year performance assessment, insisting that governments should be held accountable for campaign promises made within their own timelines. Speaking on the Asaa...
TheInstitute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) has defended its decision to award President John Mahama’s administration 4.9 out of 10 in its first-year performance assessment, insisting that governments should be held accountable for campaign promises made within their own timelines.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (14 July), Executive Director of IERPP, Isaac Boadi, rejected suggestions that one year is too short to evaluate the government’s performance.
“When people vote, they vote on promises, not on vague hopes,” he said.
According to Boadi, the institute assessed only promises that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) pledged to deliver within its first year in office.
Out of 201 manifesto commitments, IERPP selected 29 that could be measured using official data.
He explained that the institute adopted a three-stage methodology, beginning with a review of all manifesto commitments before identifying those with measurable one-year timelines.
Each promise was then linked to official data sources, including the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Statistical Service, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the 2025 Budget Statement.
The institute also subjected its scoring to independent peer review to minimise bias.
Boadi said promises were weighted according to their significance, with macroeconomic stability receiving the highest weighting because of its impact on citizens and the broader economy.
He noted that the government performed strongly on macroeconomic indicators, including inflation, exchange rate stability, foreign reserves and tax reforms.
However, weaknesses in infrastructure delivery, industrialisation, governance reforms, energy sector commitments and social programmes reduced the administration’s overall score.
“We only assessed the promises the government itself said it would deliver within one year,” he said.
“If they believed one year was too short, they should not have given those timelines in their manifesto.”
The institute said the remaining 172 promises will be assessed in future editions of its performance tracker as they become due.