A lecturer at the University of Ghana and an economist, Dr. George Domfeh, has raised concerns over the feasibility of President John Dramani Mahama’s 2024 campaign promise to introduce an automatic posting system for teachers.
In a statement, Dr. Domfeh examined the rationale behind the President’s 2024 election campaign commitments, particularly the assurance that newly trained teachers would be automatically posted after graduation.
According to him, the promise appeared to have been made on the assumption that the economy would be robust enough to sustain such a policy.
Dr. Domfeh referenced the President’s recent remarks on the economy, where he claimed to have built a “resilient economy,” suggesting that such a foundation should, in principle, support large-scale public sector recruitment initiatives like automatic postings.
However, the lecturer pointed to recent comments by Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister for Education, which indicate significant limitations in government capacity to absorb new teachers.
The remarks suggest that only about 7,000 teachers can be recruited, despite an estimated 50,000 needed across the country.
This gap, Dr. Domfeh argued, raises critical questions about the alignment between campaign promises and the country’s fiscal situation.
He questioned whether the president, given his experience in governance, was fully aware of the economic constraints at the time the promise was made.
“As a seasoned politician, he ought to have known the feasibility of such a commitment,” Dr. Domfeh noted, adding that the discrepancy could undermine public confidence in political leadership.
The lecturer further suggested that such promises risk being perceived as politically motivated, aimed at securing electoral support rather than reflecting practical policy direction.
He questioned how long political leaders would continue to make commitments that may prove difficult to implement.
Dr. Domfeh also challenged the narrative of a resilient economy, arguing that current fiscal limitations appear to contradict that claim.
He posed a direct question on the whereabouts of the resilience touted by the president, given the apparent inability to meet staffing needs in the education sector.
His statement concludes with a call for greater sincerity and accountability in political communication. According to Dr. Domfeh, repeated inconsistencies between promises and delivery could erode public trust, with long-term implications for governance and democratic engagement.
