Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has taken a swing at President John Dramani Mahama’s 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA), describing it as a litany of complaints and lamentations devoid of solutions.
Speaking during the debate on the motion to thank the President for his Message on the State of the Nation on Friday, March 9, 2025, Afenyo-Markin accused Mahama of failing to acknowledge the achievements of the previous Akufo-Addo administration while resorting to blame games.
“Mr. Speaker, when the President came to the House, all we heard was lamentation, lamentation, and more lamentation. This is nothing new; it’s how we’ve always known him,” Afenyo-Markin stated.
He recalled Mahama’s past SONAs in 2013 and 2016, where he claimed the President, despite having been part of the government for years, consistently blamed others for the country’s economic challenges instead of taking responsibility.
Afenyo-Markin particularly stressed Mahama’s handling of the 2015–2016 financial sector crisis, where he said the President blamed the Bank of Ghana for failing in its supervisory role.
“Mr. Speaker, if you are the Chief Executive of the land, you appoint the Governor of the Central Bank and its board members. Yet, when people lost their investments, you turned around to blame others. How does that work?” he questioned.
SONA lamentations
The Minority Leader also reminded the House of Mahama’s 2016 SONA, where the President stated that the government would not take responsibility for losses incurred by investors in microfinance institutions like DKM and God is Love. “That’s how bad it was. He was in charge of the economy but blamed everyone else for its failures,” Afenyo-Markin added.
He further criticized Mahama for failing to acknowledge the economic interventions of the Akufo-Addo administration, which he said were funded by revenues from the very taxes the opposition often criticizes.
“The President failed to recognize that the expenses made in this administration are a result of revenues from the taxes they complain about,” Afenyo-Markin noted.
The Minority Leader urged Ghanaians to revisit Mahama’s past SONAs, which he said were filled with complaints and lamentations rather than solutions.
He expressed confidence that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would return to power in 2028 to address the challenges facing Ghanaians and restore hope.
“The NPP will come back stronger, and we will fix the problems this administration has failed to solve. Ghanaians deserve better than lamentation upon lamentation,” Afenyo-Markin stressed