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NPP fulfills 14% of 2016 manifesto promises
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has shot down claims by the ruling government that it has achieved 78 per cent of its manifesto promises since assuming office in 2016.
In what it terms a thorough analysis and scrutiny of all 631 promises made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the round up to the 2016 elections, the NDC scored the government 14 per cent in terms of delivery.
“We have discovered that the NPP made 631 promises and not 388 as the Vice President put out and after thorough analysis, combing through documents and what they have told us in Parliament, it will shock you to realise that only 86 out of these 631 promises has been delivered, so, the percentage achieved is 14 per cent and not 78 per cent as they claim,” Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa asserted.
In a sector by sector presentation themed, “NPP 2016 manifesto in perspective: claims, deception and reality,” the MP contended that “claims of achieving 78 per cent of their promises is a scam and per what they have done, we are generous to score them an F.”
Vice President, Dr Alhaji Bawumia at a town hall meeting in February this year had indicated that despite inheriting a challenging economy from the NDC, the NPP had tackled the challenges head on, delivering 78 per cent of its manifesto promises.
“In all, we made 388 promises in our manifesto. The most recent validation exercise at the end of January 2019 shows that we had delivered or are delivering on 303 (78 per cent) of the promises and we are on course to do even more,” he declared.
But giving further breakdown of the NDC’s assessment of the manifesto, Mr Okudzeto cited for instance that in the agricultural sector, of the 74 promises made, only 13 had been delivered with 61 (82 per cent), outstanding.
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee among others singled out promises on the “one village, one dam” policy, export of horticultural crops, restoring and restocking the Korle Lagoon with fish as well as restoring cocoa production to over one million metric tonnes per annum, where government had failed abysmally.
On the economy, the opposition claimed that the high cost of doing business in the country coupled with botches in maintaining fiscal discipline, achieving double digit gross domestic product (GDP) growth annually, reducing government borrowing among others, has seen the NPP realising only 27 out of 45 promises made in the sector.
The NDC rated sectors like Chieftaincy and Culture, Local Government and Rural Development and Youth and Sports, zero with the others performing dreadfully contrary to promises made in the NPP manifesto.
Mr Ablakwa, described the promises delivered by the NPP as “face-saving theories” insisting that, “Ghanaians measure results and not efforts.”
He thus used the occasion to hint of the NDC 2020 manifesto which would be outdoored in coming days calling on the electorate to count on the party to deliver on its manifesto should they win power in the coming elections.
Meanwhile, the NDC launched a website, www.nppfailedpromises.com, to help Ghanaians fact-check the promises of the NPP government.
Source: Ghanaian Times
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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