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The 10th-anniversary celebration of the late President John Evans Atta Mills saw various statesmen and Ghanaians eulogizing him. The anniversary was held on Sunday, July 24, 2022, at the Asomdwe Park in Accra.
Accompanied by stalwarts and supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Former President John Mahama joined the family of the late President at Asomdwe Park to mark the occasion. President John Evans Atta Mills was in office from 2009 to 2012. He died in office on July 24, 2012, after a short illness.
Mr Mahama who was vice to the late president recounted fond memories he shared with his former boss. He described him as a dignified statesman. During his speech, Mr Mahama made a couple of claims about Ghana’s economy.
The 10th anniversary was streamed on Metro TV’s Facebook page. However, the sound on Facebook was not audible enough. Therefore, DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claims using this video since the sound was very audible. The claims were made from (8minutes:17seconds-8minutes:55seconds) and (8minutes:55seconds-9minutes:22 seconds) of the video.
Claim 1: For here lies a man whose tenure as president yielded the best, most stable and most prosperous economic outcomes for our nation under the 4th republic. Under him (Atta Mills), Ghana famously recorded its highest GDP growth rate of about 14.4%. (8:17-8:55)
According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), and the World Bank, the Atta Mills government in 2011 recorded 15%,13.9%, and 14% of GDP growth respectively. This rate is also the highest GDP growth rate.
Verification
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of final goods and services produced in the country during a given period. DUBAWA decided to look through data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), and the World Bank.
According to the data, 2011 was the year the government had the highest gross domestic growth (GDP) growth. The data showed that in 2011, World Bank recorded 13.9%, IMF recorded 14% and the Ghana Statistical Service recorded 15%.
Claim 2: Late President John Evans Atta Mills still holds the longest ever sustained period of single-digit inflation of 33 months. (8:55-9:22)
According to the World Bank, Ghana recorded single-digit inflation of 8.7% in 2011. The Ghana Statistical Service also cites 2011 and 2012 as the years the government of the late president recorded single-digit inflation rates, which are 8.7% and 9.2% respectively. Thus, President Mills’ government did not record single-digit inflation for 36 months, which translates into 2 years 9 months.
Verification
Again, DUBAWA decided to use the following financial institutions for our analysis: The World Bank and the Ghana Statistical Service.
As such, we checked if during his tenure in office there was the maintenance of single-digit inflation for 33 months which translates into 2 years and 9 months.
Data from the World Bank cited 19.2%, 10.7%, 8.7%, and 11.2% as the year-on-year inflation rates for 2009, 2010,2011, and 2012 respectively.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) as quoted from page 3 of data from the Ghana Living Standards states that inflation from 2009 to 2012 was 19.3%, 10.8%, 8.7%, and 9.2% respectively.
The late President Mills’ tenure ended in July 2012. If single-digit inflation was recorded in the entire months of 2011, that would be 12 months. If the seven months of 2012 (Jan-July) were to be added, the result would be 19 months of single-digit inflation and not 33 months.
Conclusion
DUBAWA can conclude that the claim by former President John Mahama indicating that Ghana recorded its highest GDP growth rate of about 14.4% is true. The growth rate was recorded in 2011. However, the claim that President Atta Mills holds the longest ever sustained period of single-digit inflation of 33 months is false. According to the World Bank, Ghana recorded single-digit inflation of 8.7% in 2011. The Ghana Statistical Service also cites 2011 and 2012 as the years the government of the late president recorded single-digit inflation rates of 8.7% and 9.2% respectively.
