Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Mohammed Muntala
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is now facing the reality on the economy front with recent public admissions by their own appointees who have contradicted the very campaign rhetoric that propelled them into power.
The narrative that global factors, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, had little or no effect on Ghana’s economy—a key message used to discredit the New Patriotic Party, NPP—has now been debunked by leading NDC figures themselves on the international stage.
During the 2024 campaign, then-presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama and the NDC dismissed the Akufo-Addo administration’s claims that Ghana’s economic woes were largely caused by global headwinds.
“It’s not about global factors, it’s about the government’s inability to manage the economy,” Mahama repeatedly argued, while at the same time touting Covid-19 outside the country as the causative factor.
The NDC accused the NPP of using the Russia-Ukraine war as a smokescreen for economic mismanagement.
Yet fast-forward to April 2025, and the tone has changed dramatically.
Speaking at an International event, recently in Geneva, Switzerland, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Mohammed Muntala, acknowledged the profound impact of global disruptions.
“We do know the challenges that will be confronting us and the broader effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be lost on any country including Ghana,” he admitted.
His remarks echo what the NPP had been saying all along but were mocked during the campaign season.
But Muntala’s international diplomacy did not stop there. He continued, “The Russia-Ukraine war… trade war which started our suspicion and now we are living the reality and taking into consideration the population in Ghana.”
His frank assessment abroad stands in stark contrast to what he said at home.
In a 2024 television appearance, Muntala offered a radically different view, fiercely challenging the notion that global fuel prices were affecting Ghana.
“That argument that because of Ukraine-Russia, that is why the global crude price is high—130, 140—and we are paying more… it is a deception,” he told Ghanaians. “It’s a deception because we are now a net producer of fuel… they are robbing you.”
His tone was accusatory, his intent clear—to cast the NPP as dishonest, despite clear signs that Ghana, like most developing nations, was reeling from global economic shocks.
Now in power, the NDC finds itself repeating the very explanations it once derided. And they are not alone in this sudden reversal.
BoG Governor Admission
In a revealing address during the 123rd Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sitting on March 23, 2025, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama—an appointee under the Mahama administration—warned that global forces still loom large over Ghana’s economic outlook.
“These global factors could also have spillover effects on inflation, capital flows, and exchange rate stability,” he cautioned.
His remarks are a significant departure from the 2024 campaign stance of the NDC, which consistently downplayed global causes of economic downturns.
Dr. Asiama further explained: “We must also acknowledge that some of today’s challenges stem from earlier monetary and fiscal policy missteps—particularly loose fiscal policy during periods of macro stress, weak monetary-fiscal coordination, and delays in key structural reforms.”
The Governor also admitted that while there were “encouraging signs of consolidation,” key questions remained about whether the current policies would satisfy upcoming IMF program reviews.
Critics say this is yet another indication that the NDC’s prior messaging was more about political convenience than economic reality.
The former Finance Minister under the NPP, Ken Ofori-Atta, had often pointed out the economic effects of the global pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict—statements that were met with skepticism and ridicule by the NDC.
Today, as Ghana continues to navigate turbulent economic waters, it is becoming increasingly clear that the global factors once dismissed as excuses by the then opposition are now being embraced as explanations by those in power.
The exposure of this contradiction leaves the NDC vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy—and forces a national conversation about honesty in political communication.
As one political analyst noted, “You can’t run a campaign denying global factors, only to cite them once you’re in government. Ghanaians deserve consistency, not convenience.”
In the end, reality has a way of leveling the political playing field—and for the NDC, the global truth they once dismissed has come home to roost.
