It is important to point out to Dr. George Domfe that his suggested contextual factors which underpinned the depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi to GHS 17 per US Dollar (at the forex market) in October 2022 are FALSE, and these are the REAL FACTS:

First and foremost, It is NEVER TRUE that the depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi was GHS 17 per US Dollar (at the forex market) in October 2022, it was rather in October 2024. Paying attention to details is one of requirements for holders of PhD, and I hope you are not going to edit your GHS 17 per US dollar in October 2022?

Now, respectfully, these are the CORRECTIONS to the DATA ABNORMALITIES in your love letter addressed to me:

1. At the beginning of 2022, the Ghanaian cedi was trading at approximately GHS 6.05 to the US dollar, not GHS 6.20 as you indicated. For the purposes of education, below is the yearly trends of the performance of the Ghanaian Cedi against the US dollar in 2022 from January to December:

GHS 6.05 per $1 on 1st January but ended at GHS 6.12 per $1 on 31st January 2022.

GHS 6.12 per $1 on 1st February but ended at GHS 6.65 per $1 on 28th February 2022.

GHS 6.59 per $1 on 1st March but ended as GHS 7.30 on 31st March 2022.

GHS 7.30 per $1 on 1st April but ended as GHS 7.30 per $1 on 30th April 2022.

Note: Nana Akufo-Addo’s government did extremely well to achieve the stability of GHS 7.30 against the US dollar predominantly throughout the month of April 2022 with the highest being GHS 7.45 to $ 1 on April 18, 17, 16, 15, and 12.

GHS 7.30 per $1 on 1st May but ended as GHS 7.59 per $1 on 31st May 2022.

GHS 7.65 per $1 on 1st June but ended as GHS 7.88 per $1 on 30th June 2022.

GHS 7.95 per $1 on 1st July but ended as GHS 8.30 per $1 on 31st July 2022.

GHS 8.36 per $1 on 1st August but ended as GHS 9.88 per $1 on 31st August 2022.

GHS 9.94 per $1 on 1st September but ended as GHS 10.14 per $1 on 30th September 2022.

GHS 10.14 per $1 on 1st October but ended as GHS 13.51 per $1 on 31st October 2022.

GHS 13.46 per $1 on 1st November but ended as GHS 14 per $1 on 30th November 2022.

GHS 13.66 per $1 on 1st December but ended as GHS 9.75 per $1 on 31st December 2022.

It is NEVER TRUE that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) held gross international reserves of over US$ 9 billion in 2022, it was rather around US$ 4.7-5.2 billion in 2022.

Again, it is NEVER TRUE that the gross international reserves at the end of 2016 was US$ 6.1 billion, it was rather around $6.8 billion.

For further correction, it was rather in 2021 that Ghana achieved a gross international reserves of a record peak of US$ 9.92 billion (source: Bank of Ghana, and TheGlobalEconomy. Com).

2. Historically, it is NEVER TRUE that the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. The Russo-Ukrainian War is a conflict that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2014, and escalated into a full-scale war starting on February 2022.

It is NEVER TRUE that, Germany experienced its highest inflation rate in about 70 years in 2022. Germany’s annual inflation rate for 2022 was 7.9%, driven by sharp increases in food prices, supply chain issues, and energy prices. The highest inflation ever recorded in Germany was averagely 41% per day in October 1923, and the highest recent peak was around 10.4% in October 2022, which is the highest since World War II (September 1, 1939), that is 83years ago in 2022, not 70years as quoted by Dr. George Domfe.

Typically, the inflation rates in Germany has always been between 1.8 – 3.5%.

It is very essential to let you know that at the time Ghana, a far away West African Country was recording 54% Inflation rate, countries closely bordering Russia and Ukraine such as Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, and Belarus were showing better economic recovery with the following respective inflation rates:

Poland – 14.4% in 2022, and 11.6% in 2023.

Romania – 13.8% in 2022, and 6.6% in 2023.

Moldova – 30.2% in 2022, and 4.2% in 2023.

Slovakia – 12.8% in 2022, and 10.5% in 2023.

Hungary – 14.6% in 2022, and 17.6% in 2023.

Belarus – 15.2% in 2022, and 5.8% in 2023.

3. Your narratives under point 3 are correct except the following:

The exchange rate in July 2022 were within the range of GHS 7.95 – 8.30 per US dollar.

In your love letter, you stated that, the international reserves were declining and that was true but these are the Facts surrounding the declination:

A decline from US$ 4.7-5.2 billion in 2022 to US$ 3.66-3.98 billion in 2023, and even before a declination in between 2022-2023, there was a sharp declined of US$ 9.92 billion in 2021 to US$ 4.7-5.2 billion in 2022.

So the question I am asking you is this, how come the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) by Dr.Ernest Addison started in June 2021, and Gold for Oil (G4O) Policy by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia started in March 2022 but could NOT PREVENT a DECLINE of the:

(a). International reserves in 2022?

(b). Inflation of 54% in 2022?

4. Against this backdrop, I would like to let you know categorically that the Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and members of the Economic Management Team woefully failed to manage the economy within that period just as the governments of Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, Belarus, and Ukraine itself diligently managed the macroeconomic indicators of their respective countries.

Again, based on facts and data available from 2022-2024, it is intellectually incoherent and dishonest to exonerate as well as justify the failures of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and his Economic Management Team from 2022-2024, and rather put all the blame on global economic turmoil triggered by developments which were exogenous in nature because those conditions were NOT beyond the control of domestic policymakers in Ukraine itself, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary and Belarus who share direct borders with Ukraine and Russia.

My question for you here is, can you explain the GHS 2.14 billion losses incurred under the Gold for Oil (G4O) Policy of Dr. Bawumia, as well as the 60.8 billion loss and the negative equity position of GHS 55.1 billion incurred by the Bank of Ghana in 2022 with Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the Head of the Economic Management Team?

5. It was a very lazy economic strategy at the time to search for more dollars, and start pumping more dollars to the Secondary Forex Market in November 2022. However, let me once again correct you that by December 2022, $1 WAS EXCHANGED FOR GHS 9.75, not GHS 8.

We went to the IMF in May 2023 for Extended Credit Facility Programme, wow, sad indeed, so what happened to the promise of not going back to the IMF again?

What happened to Restoring the Value of Cedi Economic Lectures and providing Solutions to the 170 Economic Questions?

So, are you saying that the $1 to GHS 14.7 that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia left behind on 7th January 2025 is far excellent and better than the current exchange rate of $1 to GHS 10.63 as at today, 7th January 2026?

6. Your narratives under point 6 are just pure grammar with no strong economic arguments. A lot of Countries did extremely well in 2022 despite the Russo-Ukrainian War and post COVID-19.

I sincerely respect your background as a Development Economist but I would like to urge you to focus on researching into areas of development economics such as poverty, inequality, human capital, health, education, and governance, and allow the Experts in Financial Economics, Public Sector Economics, Accounting & Finance, and International Economics to write me a LOVE LETTER next time.

Thank you, and have a great day.

By Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Presidential Adviser and Special Aide

‘A comparatively peaceful year in retrospect’, is how a 70-year-old retired academic described President Mahama’s first year in office.

From the observers’ seat, let me say without any fear of contradiction that as citizens we are pleased with the progress made so far by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by President John Dramani Mahama.

A year after, the overwhelming mandate that returned the NDC to government under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama was more than an electoral outcome. It was a national call for a #Reset in leadership, governance and public trust. However, it was in the days that followed, during the complex transition from one administration to another, that this mandate found its first and most enduring expression.

First, the transition itself set the tone. It unfolded with calm, cooperation and adherence to Ghana’s constitution, without the usual fallouts. In his inaugural address on January 07/2025 President Mahama declared that Ghana was open for business.

Unlike nations grappling with uncertainty, Ghana chose continuity and dialogue over conflict and disruption. State institutions held firm, security agencies remained professional and the transfer of responsibility took place with dignity and restraint. More than a procedural success, this peaceful handover reassured citizens, investors and partners alike that, change in leadership does not mean instability in the state. In fact, it laid the foundation upon which renewal and the #Reset Ghana, could take root.

From that foundation, government moved quickly into action. Within weeks, the John Mahama–led NDC Government signaled discipline and purpose:

• Institutional discipline: Cabinet Ministers were nominated within 14 days and approved by Parliament, the leanest government under the Fourth Republic was constituted within 90 days, a Code of Conduct for public officials operationalised, and a National Economic Dialogue convened to ground policy in consultation.

• Relief for households: The E-Levy, Betting Tax, and Emissions Levy were scrapped, while COVID levy was absorbed into VAT reforms.

• Human-centred reforms: The “No-Academic-Fee” policy for first-year tertiary students, free tertiary education for Persons with Disabilities was launched; free sanitary pads were rolled out for schoolgirls; and MahamaCares (The Ghana Medical Trust Fund became operational. These affirmed that the #Reset in governance, needed to begin with dignity.

• Strategic economic renewal: Job-creation programmes such as Adwumawura, the National Apprenticeship Programme and One Million Coders were launched, and Goldbod was established as a cornerstone of forex mobilization.

Meanwhile, the economy began to stabilise. Where uncertainty once prevailed, confidence gradually returned:

• Inflation declined and interest rates eased, dropping from January’s 23.5% rate to single digits, 6.3% in November and even lower in December.

• The debt burden reduced, the cedi regained strength and import cover lengthened from weeks to months.

• Fiscal discipline improved, signaling not merely technical recovery but the careful rebuilding of the social contract between state and citizen—restoring predictability for households and credibility for businesses.

Across key sectors, our reforms were visible.

• Education: Funding for the future of Free SHS was secured, national research fund was launched; and 154,000 students benefited from “No Fees Stress”.

• Health: The NHIS was uncapped; revenue rose to GHS 9.76bn; 13,000 nurses received financial clearance; a 2-year backlog of Pharmacy doctors paid, and the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund was established.

• Energy & Digital Economy: Solar investments commenced; data value more than doubled while consumer costs fell; and household media prices were reduced.

• Agriculture: Feed Ghana, boreholes, irrigation dam rehabilitation, and targeted food inflation control restored agriculture’s strategic role in food security.

• Infrastructure & Local Government: The Big Push policy was launched with a plan, and the sod cutting for various road construction to begin, cleared huge contraction debts and laid foundations for growth, while affordable housing and timely payment of District Assembly Common Fund releases have been duly implemented.

Equally important, accountability was pursued deliberately. Thanks to Operation Recover all Loot(ORAL) Investigations into corruption, prosecutions for acts of malfeasance, legacy challenges from the banking sector to major procurement and infrastructure projects have sent a clear message: a #Reset is not only about new programmes, but about restoring integrity to public life. Where reforms remain unfinished, they have been acknowledged openly, which clearly demonstrates the government’s commitment to good governance and transparency.

In retrospect, this year marks a period of unprecedented progress. The confidence placed in President Mahama and the NDC did not merely endorse a government; it entrusted a vision of a Ghana renewed in governance,fairness, steadiness and shared purpose.

Looking ahead, the task is clear.

• To consolidate our economic recovery into lasting stability;

• To accelerate industrial growth, job creation and digital transformation; and

• To enhance institutional reform so that accountability becomes the enduring culture of governance.

If the first year essentially restored trust, President Mahama and his government aim to translate that trust into even more tangible transformation for our people.

Guided by the calm leadership and anchored in the mandate for renewal, Ghana now stands poised not merely to recover but to forge forward with confidence and collective purpose.

President Mahama says, that his comeback must count.

Article by Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Presidential Adviser and Special Aide

Ghana has recorded another significant diplomatic and cultural milestone as Hon. Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, has been unanimously elected Chairperson of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Youth, Sports and Culture.

Her election, endorsed by ministers and technical experts from across the continent, underscores the high level of confidence in her leadership, experience, and long-standing commitment to youth development, cultural policy, and the creative arts. The Specialised Technical Committee plays a critical role in shaping continental strategies and policy frameworks that guide Africa’s youth empowerment agenda, sports development, and cultural heritage preservation.

Hon. Gomashie, a respected cultural advocate and policymaker, has consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of Africa’s creative economy and the socio-cultural dynamics influencing youth development. Her appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as the African Union intensifies efforts to harness the demographic dividend of Africa’s youthful population in line with Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.

Stakeholders within the creative and cultural sectors have welcomed her election, describing it as both timely and strategic. Her leadership is expected to strengthen policy coordination among Member States, promote inclusivity in cultural governance, and amplify the role of sports and creative industries as tools for sustainable development and social cohesion.