New members of the Ghanaian Parliament to be sworn in
The Parliament of Ghana will welcome its new members today as they formally take office.
The December 7 general elections saw incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeat National Democratic Congress challenger and predecessor John Mahama by nearly 4%. However, the two parties each walked away with 137 parliamentary seats, resulting in a hung government. The lone independent and former NPP member, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, now finds himself as the nominal tiebreaker.
With a divided government, expect Akufo-Addo to face significant adversity in enacting his agenda, which consists of expanding access to higher education and easing tax regulations. Akufo-Addo will also need to build consensus around his proposals in the petroleum sector as well as the $500 million gold-royalty fund, which Mahama had promised to veto. Under this proposal, the government would likely sell off nearly 75% of its future gold royalties to Jersey-based company Agyapa Royalties in order to finance its ongoing debt crisis. While this deal would provide immediate relief to a struggling economy in the midst of a pandemic, it would also sacrifice long-term funding for public education and healthcare infrastructure, issues that will be faced by future administrations.
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