Reality Check: Has Mahama delivered on his 120-day pledges?

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President John Mahama’s decision to frame his early agenda around a 120‑day Social Contract marks a notable departure from the more familiar “First 100 Days” benchmark used by U.S. presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal era. In the United States, the first hundred days of a presidency—originating with FDR in 1933—have become a symbolic period during which new administrations push through major legislative and policy initiatives to demonstrate early momentum and leadership. By extending this window to 120 days, Ghana’s newly inaugurated president aims to give his government additional time to deliver on a wide range of economic, social, and governance reforms laid out in his Social Contract, reflecting both the urgency of Ghana’s challenges and Mahama’s emphasis on accountability and tangible results.

While several promises—including appointing a lean cabinet, abolishing certain taxes, hosting national dialogues, and launching social programmes—have been fulfilled, others remain pending or underway.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, President John Dramani Mahama published a Social Contract [the document was misnumbered] outlining specific deliverables to be achieved within his first 120 days in office. These included economic reforms, social interventions, investigations into unresolved national issues, and administrative clean-ups.

With May 7, 2025, marking exactly 120 days since Mahama’s inauguration on January 7, DUBAWA reviews what the president pledged—and what has been done so far.

The Social Contract: A Snapshot of Promises

Mahama outlined over two dozen commitments across economic, social, and governance sectors, including:

1. Nominate within the first 14 days the complete list of Cabinet Ministers for parliamentary approval. 
2. Constitute the LEANEST AND MOST EFFICIENT government under the fourth republic in my first 90 days in office.
3. Establish a robust CODE OF CONDUCT AND STANDARDS for all government officials. 
4. Hold a National Economic Dialogue to discuss the actual state of the economy and prepare a homegrown fiscal consolidation programme to guide the budget. 
5. Within my first 90 days in office, scrap the following draconian taxes to alleviate hardships and ease the high cost of doing business: E-levy, COVID levy, 10% levy on bet winnings, and Emissions levy.
6. Within my first 90 days in office, review taxes and levies on vehicles and equipment imported into the country for industrial and agricultural purposes.
7. Commence drafting needed legal amendments and prepare for implementing the 24-Hour Economy Policy under the Office of the President.
8. Establish an Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC) to promote exports as part of a broader strategy for economic transformation. 
9. Convene a national consultative conference on EDUCATION to build consensus on needed improvements to the sector.
10. Implement the ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions (universities, colleges of education, nursing training institutions, etc.).
11. Introduce the following social interventions: Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities, the Ghana Medical Care Trust (MahamaCares) Fund. 
12. Commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools. 
13. Institute inquiries and/or forensic audits into the following matters of public interest: The collapse of Indigenous Ghanaian banks and financial institutions at a supposed cost of GHS25 billion, illegal printing of money, the US$58 million National Cathedral scandal, illegal and inflated singlesourced contracts, COVID-19 expenditure scandal, PDS, Agyapa, SML, Ambulance spare parts deal, 13th African Games, Sky Train, Pwalugu Dam, Maths Sets, Galamsey Fraud, missing excavators and tricycles, Sputnik-V, BOST Scandal, and others… 
14. Institute a government policy banning political appointees from purchasing state assets.
15.  Allocate seed money for the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank.
16. Launch the following priority job creation programmes in the first budget: ‘Adwumawura’ Programme, ‘National Apprenticeship Programme’ and ‘One Million Coders Programme’.
17. Commence the review of the Customs (Amendment) Act 2020 to scrap the law banning the importation of salvaged vehicles to rescue the local automotive industry at Suame Magazine, Kokompe, Abossey Okai, among others.
18. Lay before parliament a new bill to streamline government scholarship administration, prohibit political appointees from accessing government scholarships, and eliminate political patronage, cronyism, nepotism, and corruption in awarding government scholarships.
19. Ban illegal and new mining activities in forest reserves. Roll out our ‘Tree for Life’ and Blue Water Initiative’ to heal and sustainably harness the environment by turning areas and water bodies degraded by illegal mining into economic and ecological recovery hubs. 
20. Launch ‘The Black Star Experience’ initiative as Ghana’s flagship Culture, Arts and Tourism brand to transform Ghana into a preferred tourism destination.
21. Commence investigative processes to purge state security agencies of all militia and vigilante elements.
22. Reopen investigations into major unresolved criminal cases, including the 2020 election killings, Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, and the murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale and Silas Wulochamey. 
23. Initiate a probe into the non-natural disaster caused by the VRA’s spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams that displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of citizens in the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra.
24. Initiate immediate steps to compensate the flood victims, including those in the Oti, Bono East, and Savanna regions. 
25. Carry out a shakeup of all loss-making SOEs and realign them to break even and transition into profit-making. 

What’s been delivered? 

1. Full Cabinet Named: Mahama met his 14-day pledge to name his ministers, submitting the list to Parliament by January 20, 2025.
2. Leaner Government Formed: He has reduced ministries from 29 to 23 and capped ministers at 42, fulfilling his 90-day “lean government” commitment.
3. Code of Conduct Introduced: On May 6, a new Code of Conduct was launched, detailing ethics rules and explicitly banning political appointees from acquiring state assets.

4. Economic Dialogue Held: A national economic dialogue was held from March 3 to 4 to brainstorm fiscal reforms.
5. Education Dialogue Convened: A national education forum was launched on February 18 in Ho with sector stakeholders in attendance.

6. E-levy, Bet Tax, Emissions Levy Abolished: The 2025 budget repealed these levies as promised.

7. No Tertiary Academic Fees: The 2025 budget allocated nearly GH¢500 million to cover first-year fees in public tertiary institutions.
8. Free Sanitary Pads for Girls: Budgeted GH¢292.4 million will fund this initiative in primary and secondary schools.
9. MahamaCares Health Fund: The President appealed to organisations in the public and private sectors to devote a portion of their annual social investments to support the Initiative. The President has also taken three months’ salaries from political appointees who failed to meet the mandatory asset declaration deadline of March 31, 2025, and invested the funds in the MahamaCares initiative.
10. Adwumawura, One Million Coders: The President has launched the Adwumawura and the one million coders initiative, although there is no evidence that these job creation initiatives have started.
11. Women’s Development Bank Seed Fund: The Government has allocated GH¢51.3 million as a seed fund for establishing the Women’s Development Bank.

12. Akosombo Spillage Probe: Official inquiry has begun.
13.  Forensic Audits into SOEs and Past Scandals: President Mahama instructed the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) to commission independent audits of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to identify inefficiencies and financial leakages, emphasising that the government will not sustain entities that fail to deliver value to the nation.  

14. Security Service Reforms: The President intensified his restructuring of Ghana’s security sector by appointing new heads for the Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), and Ghana Immigration Service (GIS). 

15.  Black Star Experience Tourism Brand: President John Dramani Mahama launched the Black Star Experience on Thursday, May 1, as part of efforts to position Ghana as Africa’s premier tourism destination. 

16.  SOE Shakeup: There is evidence of reshuffling boards or operational restructuring in loss-making state firms.

17. Establish an Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC): The Accelerated Export Development Council (AEDC) was launched on 5 May.

18. Blue Water/Tree for Life: A water protection initiative under this banner was launched in March.

In Progress 

19. Free Tertiary for Persons with Disabilities: Budgeted, but implementation status unclear.

20. Ahmed Suale Murder, Ayawaso Violence, 2020 Killings: Mahama has ordered the investigation into Ahmed Suale’s Death. However, no concrete report has emerged from the findings yet.  

Unfulfilled or Pending

21.  COVID-19 Levy Still in Place: While Mahama pledged to scrap this tax, it remains, pending future VAT reforms.

22. Vehicle/Equipment Tax Review Not Done: The promised review of duties on industrial and agricultural vehicles hasn’t occurred. The 2025 budget presented by the Finance Minister did not mention plans to implement this promise.

23.  Scholarship Reform Bill: Not yet introduced in Parliament.

24. Flood Victim Compensation: Though promised and mentioned in budget plans, no funds have been disbursed publicly.

25. 2024 Hour economy policy: The 24-hour economy policy is yet to be rolled out.

Mahama acknowledges delays in flood compensation and tax reforms

President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, May 7, acknowledged that while his government has delivered on many promises under his 120-day social contract, several other commitments are still in motion, recently initiated, or fully implemented.

In a detailed national address marking four months since assuming office for a second term, the President framed the work done so far as a foundation for broader reforms, but was candid about the journey ahead.

“This is only the beginning. We still have a long way to go, but we have taken decisive steps and will not relent,” President Mahama said.

“We haven’t scrapped the COVID levy due to its link to the IMF programme, but we’re in talks to review it.”

According to the President, a committee led by a former VRA chief executive has completed its report, recommending technical fixes to prevent future flooding. Mr Mahama says he has ordered its immediate implementation and warned that VRA leadership will be held accountable if recommendations are ignored.

“The compensation exercise for flood victims, promised in the 2025 budget, is yet to begin, but a coordinating team has been formed.”

Bold contract or risky? Expert analysis

Political analyst and governance expert Professor John Osae-Kwapong has praised the Mahama administration’s 120-day social contract as a bold governance strategy but warned that failure to meet expectations within that timeframe could erode public trust and political credibility.

Prof. Osae-Kwapong identified two central pillars that shaped the party’s messaging: the state of the Ghanaian economy and the fight against corruption. Chief among the NDC’s proposed economic reforms, he noted, was the flagship policy of a 24-hour economy—an idea that drew significant public interest.

“One of their key signature policies in addressing some of the economic pinch points is the idea of a 24-hour economy,” he told DUBAWA.

According to Prof. Osae-Kwapong, the policy’s success or failure will be a critical indicator of the government’s commitment to delivering on its promises. “Most individuals are waiting to see how it would play out, given how central it was to the 2024 campaign,” he added.

Corruption was another dominant issue during the campaign, and Prof. Osae-Kwapong said public scrutiny remains high regarding how the government will act on this front. He noted that although the Attorney General has provided two public briefings since his office absorbed the anti-corruption mandate of the now-defunct URA, Ghanaians still await tangible outcomes.

“There’s still that expectation to see what is going to come out of it or become of it,” he said.

Prof. Osae-Kwapong drew parallels between the current administration’s 120-day agenda and Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America,” a political move in the U.S. that also focused on setting short-term legislative goals. While he acknowledged that such 

strategies can help demonstrate that “your government is at work on your behalf,” he cautioned against the risks of binding state action to fixed timelines.

“The downside is, when you place time bounds on it, the inability to fulfil certain things can, if not managed well, chip away at trust and political confidence,” he warned.

“It takes more than 120 days to really get things done, or at least to get citizens to a place where they can feel the impact,” he explained.

He recommended that assessments of government performance focus not just on what has been achieved so far, but also on understanding why specific promises may remain unmet.

“For now, the assessment is: which of these things can you check off, and for the ones you can’t, why not? In the medium to long term, the key question will be: what difference is it making? Are we seeing improvements in governance? Are there socio-economic dividends to show for it?”

Ultimately, Prof. Osae-Kwapong acknowledged the balancing act that leaders must perform between acting swiftly to meet citizen demands and allowing enough time to implement lasting change.

“When you create expectations for citizens, sometimes you don’t have the luxury of time to wait too long,” he concluded. “That is the good and the bad of the politics associated with this kind of 120-day social contract.”

Conclusion

Out of over 25 promises made for Mahama’s first 120 days, 18 can be confirmed as fulfilled, with two in progress and a few still pending. While the administration moved swiftly on key symbolic and economic measures—cabinet formation, tax abolition, and national dialogues—it has lagged on investigations, employment initiatives, and structural reforms.

As the Mahama government transitions beyond its 120-day benchmark, scrutiny will shift from symbolic acts to systemic implementation.