Mahama govt scores poorly on energy, environment after 120 Days — IERPP's Dr Baafi

Dr. Nyame Baafi, Senior Fellow astatine the Institute for Energy, Resources and Public Policy (IERPP) and Senior Lecturer astatine the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has raised concerns implicit the ruling NDC administration’s show successful biology absorption and vigor reforms, signaling a worrying 16.6 percent show during its archetypal 120 days successful office.

Addressing journalists astatine a property league astatine the Ghana International Press Centre connected Wednesday, May 7, 2025, nether the taxable “The 120-Days Accountability Showdown: Are We Resetting oregon Repeating the Past,” Dr. Baafi presented a broad reappraisal of the government’s show to date.

He explained that the assessment, conducted by IERPP, evaluated twenty-five cardinal manifesto promises crossed 4 thematic areas utilizing verifiable implementation information and a weighted scoring strategy aligned with planetary benchmarks for measuring authorities performance.

Dr. Baafi emphasized that Ghana stands astatine a captious juncture and tin nary longer spend argumentation incoherence, reversals, oregon delays. He stressed the request for the authorities to uphold its committedness to support wood reserves and enforce biology laws.

He besides highlighted the urgent request for the medication to code the vigor situation done competent enactment and structural reforms, consolidate erstwhile gains successful the tourism sector, and behaviour a credible probe into the Akosombo Dam spillage disaster.

Reflecting connected the 2024 wide elections, Dr. Baafi recalled that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), past led by flagbearer and present President John Mahama, unveiled a 120-Day Social Contract with the radical of Ghana. This papers outlined cardinal commitments crossed sectors specified arsenic energy, environment, and tourism.

Among the promises were a prohibition connected amerciable and caller mining activities wrong wood reserves, arsenic good arsenic initiatives specified arsenic the Tree for Life and Blue Water Initiative, which aimed to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems and reconstruct polluted h2o bodies.

Another pledge was the motorboat of the Black Star Experience to revitalize the tourism industry. Additionally, the NDC committed to initiating a broad probe into the Akosombo and Kpong Dam spillage disaster, which displaced thousands and devastated livelihoods crossed aggregate regions.

Dr. Baafi noted that though the vigor sector, 1 of the astir captious pillars of Ghana’s system was not explicitly highlighted successful the archetypal contract, it was aboriginal incorporated nether the broader extremity of resolving the powerfulness crisis.

Unfortunately, helium stated, the state continues to endure from predominant and prolonged powerfulness outages commonly referred to arsenic dumsor which endanger economical stableness and productivity.

Citing planetary comparisons, Dr. Baafi referenced however adjacent precocious economies specified arsenic Germany person grappled with macroeconomic challenges owed to precocious energy costs fto unsocial the persistent powerfulness shortages faced by Ghana.

He further emphasized that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Ghana’s vigor assemblage arsenic a large economical risk.

He recounted how, betwixt 2013 and 2015, the authorities signed galore powerfulness acquisition agreements connected a take-or-pay basis, burdening the federation with excess capableness charges amounting to astir 1 cardinal dollars annually since 2017.

These fiscal obligations, helium argued, person diverted important nationalist funds from indispensable sectors similar healthcare, infrastructure, and education—raising superior concerns astir Ghana’s fiscal sustainability.

Despite reassurances from the existent Minister for Energy, Dr. Baafi said the vigor situation persists, with terrible consequences for businesses, employment, investment, and healthcare delivery.

He warned that without bold reforms and enhanced ratio peculiarly successful the gross postulation efforts of the Electricity Company of Ghana the state risks missing targets nether the ongoing IMF program.

While acknowledging that caller tariff increases by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission are intended to enactment outgo recovery, Dr. Baafi criticized the move, arguing that these adjustments simply displacement the inefficiencies of state-owned vigor enterprises onto consumers, further expanding the already precocious outgo of living.

On biology issues, Dr. Baafi expressed disappointment astatine what helium described arsenic a reversal of the government’s pledge to prohibition amerciable and caller mining wrong wood reserves. He noted that alternatively of enforcing a ban, the authorities is reportedly seeking to amend authorities to licence specified activities—a determination helium condemned arsenic some contradictory and dangerous.

He described the biology demolition caused by mining arsenic alarming, citing wide contamination of h2o bodies with dense metals and toxic chemicals, demolition of farmlands, and threats to cultivation productivity.

Dr. Baafi emphasized that agriculture remains cardinal to Ghana’s system arsenic its largest employer, a large contributor to GDP, and a cardinal root of export revenue. Any argumentation that undermines the sector, helium warned, poses a nonstop menace to nationalist stability.

Turning to tourism, Dr. Baafi acknowledged the motorboat of the Black Star Experience arsenic a commendable inaugural with imaginable to boost home economical enactment and occupation creation. However, helium questioned the contented of launching a caller marque alternatively of gathering connected the internationally recognized Year of Return, which had already delivered important economical benefits.

He besides expressed interest that the inaugural was launched connected the aforesaid time that energy tariffs roseate by implicit fourteen percent, a improvement that adds unit connected businesses and undermines the tourism sector’s viability.

Dr. Baafi further criticized the government’s nonaccomplishment to fulfill its committedness of a afloat probe into the Akosombo and Kpong Dam spillage disaster. He questioned whether the government's pledge outlined successful the 2025 Budget Statement to resettle displaced persons had seen immoderate meaningful progress.

He urged the authorities to stay faithful to its commitments, prioritize competent leadership, instrumentality urgent reforms successful the vigor sector, support the environment, physique connected erstwhile tourism successes, and uphold transparency and accountability particularly regarding the Akosombo catastrophe response.

In conclusion, Dr. Baafi stated that Ghanaians merit better—a authorities that is transparent, consistent, and accountable, and that places the payment of its radical supra governmental expediency.

AM/KA

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