The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has announced plans to present what it calls the “True State of the Nation Address” on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. This comes in response to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President John Dramani Mahama on February 27, which the NPP claims “selectively omitted critical national issues and misrepresented the realities of Ghana’s current state.”
In a press statement signed by NPP National Chairman Stephen Ayesu Ntim, the party argues that President Mahama’s address failed to provide an accurate assessment of the nation’s trajectory since his assumption of office on January 7, 2025. The opposition party cited several challenges they believe were overlooked, including worsening electricity instability, rising security threats, the resurgence of illegal mining (galamsey), and growing unemployment due to the cancellation of public sector recruitments.
“These urgent national challenges were conspicuously absent from President Mahama’s address,” the statement reads. “The State of the Nation Address is a constitutional mandate under Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, intended to provide an honest and comprehensive update on the state of affairs. Unfortunately, the address delivered by the President fell short of this obligation.”
The NPP’s alternative address will be led by the party’s leadership in Parliament, headed by Hon. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo Markin. According to the statement, the aim is to present Ghanaians with a “factual and objective account” of the country’s current state.
President Mahama in his SONA described the economy to be in a deep crisis, one that was far worse than he thought.
President John Mahama mentioned that the country’s financial state is dire.“The state of our economy is not good. Our economy is in crisis and our people are suffering unprecedented hardships. Our economy is in dire state, and that is putting it mildly,” the president said.
The President disclosed that Ghana’s public debt has soared to a staggering GH₵ 731 billion, with many state-owned enterprises struggling under immense debt. Notably, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is burdened with GH₵ 68 billion, while COCOBOD, a key pillar of the nation’s cocoa industry, is weighed down by substantial financial challenges.
Notably under the previous administration, inflation ended the year at an alarming 23.8%, surpassing the 18% target set with the IMF.
