PRESIDENT MAHAMA’S GROSS GOVERNANCE FAILURE EXPOSED (GHANA’S FUTURE JEOPARDISED AS OVER 6,000 TEACHERS GO UNPAID FOR UP TO 12-15 MONTHS!)
Ghana in 2025–2026 has witnessed a disgraceful collapse in basic public service delivery under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, most glaringly exposed in the systemic failure to pay and regularize thousands of newly recruited teachers, the very professionals entrusted with shaping the nation’s future. This isn’t mere administrative drift; it’s a crisis of governance that is deep, prolonged, and damaging.
From September 2025 through January 2026, more than 6,000 newly posted teachers, many of whom were teaching in Ghanaian classrooms for 12–15 months, received salaries for only two of those months, leaving them to struggle in poverty while fulfilling their duties. Their protests throughout 2025, including marches to the Jubilee House and demands for fundamental administrative action, reflect not isolated grumbling but nationwide frustration at a government that cannot perform the simplest function of paying its workers.
These teachers have waited more than a year for full pay and staff identification numbers, without which salary processing remains stalled. Even after repeated protests throughout 2025 and direct appeals to state authorities, the payment system remains bottlenecked, indicating gross incompetence within key administrative arms of the government, including the Ghana Education Service and related ministries.
In October 2025, the Mahama government, belatedly acknowledging the crisis, announced Cabinet approval to absorb approximately 6,200 unpaid teachers and allocate GH¢1.1 billion for clearing arrears. But this lofty assurance touted as a victory has largely stalled, with many affected teachers still awaiting full payment and essential documentation as of January 2026, forcing warnings of legal and industrial action if the arrears are not cleared.
What does this expose? A leadership that cannot manage payroll systems, cannot coordinate basic ID processing, and cannot timely settle salaries, even after months of disruption. This is not trivial bureaucracy; this is maladministration undermining Ghana’s education system, eroding teachers’ morale, and sending negative signals nationwide about the Mahama administration’s capacity to govern effectively.
While President Mahama speaks of quality education and modernization, the ground reality reveals teachers struggling to survive, unable to meet rent, transport, or basic needs due to administrative neglect.
The NPP stands unwavering in demanding accountability, emphasizing that education, a cornerstone of national progress, cannot thrive under incompetence. Ghana deserves leadership that pays its teachers on time, respects public servants, and prioritizes the future of every child in the classroom. This crisis isn’t just numbers and delays; it is a betrayal of Ghana’s collective aspiration for effective governance and a rebuke to failed leadership under the NDC.
By: Blessing Mantey
