As President John Dramani Mahama marks his second year in office following his return, it is worth examining some cabinet ministers who have faced the most scrutiny over their performance.
Today, we take a look closely at some of the eight worst-performing cabinet Ministers under the John Mahama Administration, with Ghanaians raising concerns about the pace of the John Mahama reset Agenda in terms of reforms, policy clarity, and the tangible impact of government initiatives on their everyday lives.
See the list below:
- Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education
Haruna Iddrisu was appointed the Minister of Education, with many Ghanaians expecting more from one of the NDC’s bigwigs.
Indeed, Haruna Iddrisu himself had refuted claims that he is unhappy with President Mahama appointing him to head the Education Ministry.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, he is fully prepared for the challenges facing the Education sector, adding that his appointment aims at driving a reset of Ghana’s education system.
However, he has failed to deliver key initiatives in Ghana’s education system and has rather been met with teachers’ demonstrations on countless occasions, with the latest being the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers, who hit the streets of Accra on Wednesday, April 15, protesting their over 7 to 18 months of unpaid salary arrears.
Also, Haruna Iddrisu recently admitted that his hands have been tied with the Ghana Education Service(GES), which received over 40,000 applications, far exceeding the 7,000 teaching positions available.
Haruna Iddrisu detailed that the 7000 teachers being recruited are due to budget constraints, adding that 50,000 teachers could have been recruited across the country if there were resources.
In his second year in the steering wheel of Ghana’s educational sector, Haruna Iddrisu has failed to tackle the plight of unrecruited teachers, with Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader, calling him out on the floor of parliament to focus on pressing issues affecting teachers.
Also, it is yet to be seen if Haruna Iddrisu will be able to phase out the Double-Track system at the Senior High School level by 2027 as promised.
- Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources
Next on the list, the Lands Minister Kofi Buah have so far failed to deliver on the John Mahama promise to fight galamsey.
Two years into office, galamsey is still a menace, devastating Ghana’s Land and River bodies. He has received heavy backlash due to the slow progress on illegal small-scale mining (galamsey), which continues to destroy water bodies and forests.
The Minister’s Blue Water Guards initiative has been described as a useless and bogus venture by Ghanaian media personality Afia Pokua, commonly known as Vim Lady.
According to Afia Pokua, the launch of the Blue Water Guards is causing financial loss to the state, adding that the Lands and Natural Resources Minister must be held responsible.
Afia Pokua is quoted to have said, “Since Mahama came to power, the water has never been clear. Even under Akufo-Addo, we saw signs that the water was clear; it was only when he opened the floodgates for party boys to mine that he had problems.
This government introduced the Blue Water Guards, but they have been the most ineffective way to fight illegal mining. The minister has seen that the blue water guards are a useless and bogus venture that has caused the state financial loss,” she said.
It is worth to note the the launch of the Blue Water Guards has contributed little to the fight against illegal mining.
Another initiative established by Kofi Buah to fight galamsey, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), although it has been praised by the President, have been crying out for financial support in their fight against illegal mining (galamsey).
NAIMOS, some months ago, called for increased logistical and financial support to strengthen its anti-galamsey operations.
- Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
It is for no reason that Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, was once described as a drama king by an unpaid nurse during their protest demanding their salaries.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, since taking the role of Health Minister under John Dramani Mahama’s administration, has faced scrutiny over recurring challenges.
His challenges include pressure on public hospitals, concerns about access to essential medicines, delays in addressing long-standing systemic issues and also his clash with the leadership of the GRNMA.
Also, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and the NDC have been criticised for failing to operationalise any of the Agenda 111 hospital project started under the Akufo-Addo government.
Although the John Mahama government have implemented their promise to send some Ghanaian health workers under the government’s Labour Exchange Programme, there is still a large number of nurses yet to be posted waiting at home after completing their Nursing training.
The Health Minister, some months ago, revealed that Ghana would need about GHS6 billion to recruit all 74,000 unemployed health professionals currently at home.
The health minister highlighted that his ministry is working to clear the backlog by collaborating with the Finance Ministry.
Speaking in an interview on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, October 15, the Minister explained, “We will need not less than GHS6 billion to be able to absorb all the 74,000 health professionals at home at the moment”.
Mintah Akandoh further clarified that the brouhaha surrounding the 13,000 newly recruited nurses and midwives’ clearance
The health minister once again blamed the former Akufo-Addo administration for issuing clearance without financial backing.
He stated, “The reality is that in 2024, the government started to recruit nurses and midwives. So the summary is that they recruited about 13,500 nurses and midwives and issued clearance”.
“Once you issue clearance, you must make financial provision. Clearance is not just a paper… you issue clearance when indeed you can pay when you recruit the people.”
“The clearance expired on 31st December 2024. What it means is that before the expiration… you must necessarily have all these 13,500 people on the payroll. As at the end of 31st December 2024, not a single one of the 13,500 people were on the payroll,” he added.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, clearly knowing about the 74,000 unemployed health professionals, has so far failed to deliver some kind of relief to these young health workers at home awaiting the John Mahama government to deliver on their promised to them.
- Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice
Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine was tasked by President John Mahama to lead the charge of his government’s promise to recover stolen loots under the former Akufo-Addo administration, the Attorney-General has so far failed to deliver on the NDC government’s Operation Recover All Loots(ORAL) promise.
The Attorney General has been criticised for the slow progress in prosecuting high-profile corruption cases from the previous administration and the handling justice sector reforms.
It will be recalled that the chairman of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, revealed that with just 36 cases, Ghana can potentially recover $ 20.49 billion in stolen state resources.
However, the last we heard from Dr Dominic Ayine was when he categorically denied allegations suggesting that plea bargain agreements are being formulated with individuals under ORAL investigation.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice made this known to the Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, on Thursday, February 5, during her visit to the Ministry of Justice.
According to Dr Dominic Ayine, no plea negotiations have been entered into with any individual suspected of wrongdoing under the ORAL initiative.
Meanwhile, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, the Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, has categorically stated that the NDC government’s Operation Recover All Loots(ORAL) has collapsed because President John Mahama is not being told the truth.
According to A Plus, he knows people in the current NDC government and people from the ORAL team who have also bought government land and threatened to release land documents to support his claims.
- Eric Opoku, the Minister of Minister for Agriculture
Minister of Agriculture, Eric Opoku, with many claiming he is one of President John Mahama’s favourites after the Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has also failed to deliver on the promised reset agenda in Ghana’s Agriculture.
In January, the Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin called him out to tell Ghanaians what he has achieved since assuming office.
Afenyo-Markin recounted that Eric Opoku, in opposition, used to portray the Akufo-Addo government as ineffective.
He, however, acknowledged Eric Opoku’s intelligence but highlighted that he has failed to introduce any concrete policies to improve Ghana’s agricultural sector.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the Agric Minister must convene a press conference and highlight his achievements since assuming office.
Speaking at a conference on Monday, January 27, 2026. Afenyo-Markin stated, “So, for agriculture, let me ask our respected colleague Eric Opoku. He is a very intelligent parliamentarian. I don’t doubt his understanding of the agro sector, but talk is cheap. It is not about his talking.
Today I want to ask my respected colleague, Honourable Eric Opoku, the minister responsible for agriculture, to hold a press conference and tell Ghanaians the real policies that have been introduced to help promote agriculture,” Afenyo-Markin said.
He added: “There is none in the fisheries sector. The less said about them, the better. So really, this government talks so much in opposition, but in government, there is nothing they’ve done in the agro and fisheries sectors to promote growth. And we see it in that field.”
Eric Opoku has so far failed to tackle concerns raised by Ghanaian farmers about significant food glut of crops such as maize and rice, and poultry farmer concerncern of eggs glut as of late 2025/early 2026, which has led to high post-harvest losses and concerns among farmers.
The Agric Minister Feed Ghana initiative aimed at tackling Ghana’s food import dependency has still not yielded results yet.
- Kenneth Gilbert Minister for Works and Housing
Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, Minister for Works and Housing under John Dramani Mahama, has been accused of being completely silent in addressing Ghana’s persistent housing and infrastructure challenges.
He has failed to provide solutions to concerns about Ghana’s housing deficit, which remains high on the pressing issues Ghanaians are facing.
Critics stressed that the minister has yet to present a clear, actionable roadmap that significantly accelerates affordable housing delivery for low- and middle-income earners.
Also, the Minister for Works and Housing has failed to tackle the central issue of Ghanaians, which is the practice of landlords demanding multiple years of rent advance.
With Ghana about to enter the rainy season, Kenneth Gilbert, Minister, is set to face more criticism over flood control and drainage systems in the country.
- Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the Minister of Gender
Agnes Naa Momo Lartey’s criticism has been centred on concerns about her visibility and impact within her sector.
Although praised by renowned media personality Nana Aba Anamoah for her proactive approach to social issues, critics have questioned the policy implementation versus results.
Beyound the proactive approach to social issues by issuing press releases little is known of her policy implemented so far.
According to critics, while commitments have been announced, the tangible outcomes on the ground have not always met public expectations, concerning the vulnerable groups.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders have raised issues about resource allocation and programme effectiveness, questioning whether existing interventions are sufficiently targeted and impactful.
- Joseph Bukari Nikpe, the Minister for Transport
One major concern for the Minister for Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has to do with the state of public transport systems, particularly in urban centres like Accra.
Commuters continue to face issues such as congestion, inconsistent service, and limited modernisation of mass transit options, with commuters being stranded mostly during the early hours of the morning and after work in search of transport to their various destinations.
With Ghanaians calling for more decisive steps to improve the efficiency of Ghana’s transport system, the government announced that Ghana has received 100 new 29-seater buses as efforts to tackle recent public transport challenges.
It is yet to be seen if the newly acquired 100 new 29-seaters will help tackle the recent public transport challenges.
Meanwhile, as President John Mahama has emphasised, his second term is intended to be a “legacy term” rather than a business-as-usual one focused on delivering lasting impact before he retires from politics.
To fulfil his promise of resetting Ghana, he may need to take decisive action in addressing the shortcomings of some of his Cabinet Ministers to change the trajectory of those sectors.
On the flip side, Fifi Kwetey, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, has revealed that there will be a ministerial reshuffle of ministers in the John Mahama administration.
According to the NDC General Secretary, from what he is picking up in the corridors of power, there will be a ministerial reshuffle, but he cannot say how soon.
Speaking on TV3 Hot Issues, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey explained, “It is always important that despite the fact that things have gone on very well in the first year, the president, who is the leader, will always want to see where things can still be done better”.
“A reshuffle is normally done within that context, where you want to see in this particular sector, even though things are okay, it can still do better if I move somebody else to that place or in this place, maybe this one is not too effective in this sector”.
“So I think a reshuffle will be a possibility, and what I pick up from the corridors, yes, we definitely are going to have a reshuffle. I wouldn’t be able to say how soon, but definitely”.