President Nana Akufo-Addo has criticised former President John Dramani Mahama, describing him as a failed leader who could not secure a second term due to poor performance. 

He claimed that, unlike other past presidents who are remembered for their significant contributions, Mr. Mahama's legacy is tied to "Dumsor" — the frequent power outages that plagued his administration.

President Akufo-Addo’s remarks came during a speech at the Sekyere Afram Plains District Hospital opening in Drobonso on Monday, 25th November. 

He took aim at the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) proposed "24-hour economy" policy, questioning its feasibility under Mr. Mahama's leadership. 

"If he couldn’t maintain a 12-hour power supply during his presidency, how can he promise a 24-hour economy? Stop the lies," he stated, dismissing the policy as misleading.

In the same address, President Akufo-Addo praised the Free Senior High School (SHS) initiative, which he described as a transformative policy in Ghana's educational sector. 

He stressed that many young Ghanaians who previously lacked access to secondary education are now benefitting from this programme, which he regards as one of his administration's most impactful achievements.

He provided statistics to support his claim, noting that prior to his tenure, over 1,000 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates were unable to pursue secondary education each year due to financial constraints. 

According to him, this figure had a cumulative impact of nearly one million young Ghanaians over a decade who missed out on further education because of economic barriers.

"Elsewhere in the world, governments cover the school fees of young people, and we decided that Ghana should do the same," he explained. 

The President pointed out that under his administration, the number of SHS students has doubled from 800,000 to 1.6 million, with a total of 5.7 million young Ghanaians having benefited from the Free SHS policy so far.