The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has painted a grim picture of the country’s trajectory under President John Dramani Mahama, accusing the administration of reversing hard-won economic gains and abandoning the very promises that brought it to power. Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr. Richard Ahiagbah, the party’s Director of Communications, argued that the government inherited a recovering economy but has, within just over a year, plunged key sectors into distress.
Mr. Ahiagbah began by contesting the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) pre-election narrative of a collapsed economy, presenting data to show that by the end of 2024, inflation had dropped to the mid-20s from a peak of 54 percent, growth had stabilized above three percent, and the cedi had found firm footing. “The central issue is this: What did President Mahama inherit, and what has he done with it?” he asked, insisting that the evidence points to a reversal of the recovery spearheaded by the previous Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration.
The brunt of the NPP’s criticism landed on the cocoa sector, where Mr. Ahiagbah detailed what he called “misgovernance on steroids.” He alleged that the Cocoa Board’s failure to lock in favourable forward sales during a global price surge led to an emergency cabinet decision that slashed producer prices by 29 percent. “Cocoa farmers are losing GHS 1,038 per bag. For a farmer producing 100 bags, that is a loss of GHS 103,800,” he stated, expressing outrage that the government ignored appeals from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference to reverse the decision.
On youth employment, the NPP spokesperson dismissed the government’s flagship 24-hour economy policy as a failure, claiming that a year into office, the policy has only produced bureaucracy rather than jobs. He further accused President Mahama of inflating employment figures, referencing a fact-check that found a discrepancy of some 670,000 jobs between the President’s State of the Nation Address and records from the Ghana Statistical Service.
Mr. Ahiagbah also raised concerns about rising fuel prices, worsening illegal mining (galamsey), and strained labour relations that have seen strikes by teacher and health worker unions. In a sharp critique of governance ethics, he questioned the use of a private jet linked to the President’s brother for official travel, warning that the blurring of lines between public authority and private interests erodes public trust. “Governance is not just about policy; it is about integrity,” he said, adding that the NDC’s “cronyism on steroids” is a betrayal of the mandate given to them by Ghanaians.
By Kingsley Asiedu
[9:16 AM, 3/24/2026] Professor: Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple Vindicated as High Court Rebukes EOCO for Abuse of Power
Accra, March 19, 2026 — The High Court Adentan on Thursday, 19th March 2026, ordered the unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to Sesi-Edem Company Limited, delivering a decisive ruling that
vindicates Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple, founder of the company, and clarifies the limits of the Economic and Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO) investigative powers.
The ruling comes after a petition filed by JG Resources Ltd triggered EOCO’s intervention, resulting in the freezing of Sesi-Edem’s accounts on November 20, 2025, and December 17, 2025, before an ex parte order on January 30, 2026 confirmed the freeze. In its decision, the Court held that EOCO acted outside its statutory mandate and abused its powers in freezing the company’s accounts, bringing clarity to a matter that had attracted considerable public attention in recent weeks.
It held that the dispute between Sesi-Edem and JG Resources Ltd arose from a private commercial agreement that involved no fraud or money laundering. The Court emphasised that the matter was purely contractual and therefore outside EOCO’s statutory remit. Consequently, EOCO’s investigation and the freezing of the company’s accounts were ultra vires and legally unsustainable.
The Court observed that performance under the Sale and Purchase Agreement was ongoing, and that the contractual delivery period had not yet expired. Sesi-Edem, therefore, was not even in breach of
contract. The Court held that any disputes over delivery schedules are civil matters and must be resolved by the civil courts.
On regulatory compliance, the Court confirmed that Sesi-Edem was fully authorised to trade in gold at the time of the transaction. The company operated under directives issued by the Ghana Gold Board during the transition to the current regulatory regime, which permitted licensed dealers to continue trading. The Court concluded that any representations made by the company regarding its licensing status were accurate and lawful.
The Court strongly condemned EOCO for serious misconduct. The agency failed to get judicial approval for its freezing order of 20th November 2025 within the 14 days required by law. Instead, EOCO re-issued the order on 17th December 2025 without telling the Court about the first order and then sought confirmation using the ex parte procedure, ensuring that Sesi-Edem would not have a chance to respond. The High Court ruled that the re-issued order was invalid, making it clear that the extended freezing of the company’s accounts was completely unlawful and an abuse of EOCO’s powers.
The ruling makes it clear that private parties cannot weaponize state investigative powers to settle
commercial disagreements, and enforcement agencies like EOCO must operate strictly within their legal mandate.
The petition lodged by JG Resources Ltd, which set this chain of events in motion, has been firmly rejected as baseless.
The High Court’s ruling comes on the heels of separate orders obtained by Sesi-Edem in December 2025 from the Accra High Court to safeguard funds believed to have been fraudulently obtained from
Turkish investors through a forged Sale and Purchase Agreement that misused the company’s name, with JG Resources positioned as the facilitator in whose accounts the funds were to be received.
The decision highlights Sesi-Edem’s determined legal defence of its reputation and fully vindicates both the company and its founder, Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple, after weeks of intense public scrutiny.
