President John Dramani Mahama's first State of the Nation Address (SONA) painted a grim picture of a nation in crisis-skyrocketing debt, a shaky energy sector, unresolved infrastructure projects, and mounting youth unemployment. The President pledged to "fix it," comparing today's challenges to the power-outage crisis (dumsor) he tackled a decade ago. But how accurate are his claims? 3News conducted a detailed fact-check, using data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Bank of Ghana (BoG), the Ministry of Finance, independent economic analysts, and international agencies to see where the facts stand. 1.
Economic IndicatorsClaim: Ghana's inflation hit 23.8% in December 2024, overshooting a targeted 18%.Verdict: True.Ghana Statistical Service figures confirm that at the close of 2024, inflation was 23.8%, higher than the authorities' upper target of around 22%.
This points to continued difficulty in stabilising prices.Claim: The cedi lost 19% of its value against the dollar in 2024, on top of a 27.8% drop in 2023.Verdict: True.Bank of Ghana data and multiple market analyses show the cedi did indeed depreciate by roughly 28% in 2023 and a further 18-19% in 2024.
That tally matches the President's figures.Claim: Public debt stands at GH₵721 billion.Verdict: Largely True.This figure corresponds to the debt around the start of 2025.
