IMANI PULSE REPORT: Monitoring period: 8 August – 7 September 2026
Sat, 19 Sep 2026
Special Report
The IMANI Public Understanding and Literacy for Sentiment and Election analysis (PULSE) framework is designed to assess public sentiment across digital and media ecosystems regarding major political contenders, identifying dominant narratives, emerging trends, and key influencers shaping online political discourse.
The analysis draws on data and content from the following platforms:
- X (formerly Twitter)
- YouTube
- Web-based sources
- TikTok
- Podcasts
- News feeds
Ghana’s digital political conversation in August 2026 reflected a political environment increasingly shaped by concrete questions of delivery, institutional accountability and economic performance. Yet beneath the growing volume of policy discussion, political personalities continued to provide the principal lens through which many of these issues were interpreted.
Across the monitored thematic areas, policy-oriented conversations were particularly prominent around infrastructure, jobs, health, the economy and aspects of governance. The strongest policy signals came from major government announcements, including financing for the Accra – Kumasi Expressway, the proposed $10 billion New Economy programme, the absorption of 13,500 nurses and midwives onto the government payroll, and plans to expand domestic crude processing and electricity generation.
At the same time, accountability remained one of the most contested dimensions of the political conversation. The reported $1.7 billion loss associated with the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme emerged as the most prominent named accountability dispute, drawing in the Ghana Gold Board, the Bank of Ghana, the IMF, the Auditor-General, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson, GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi and Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
The result is a digital political environment in which policy and personality increasingly operate together. Infrastructure announcements become tests of ministerial credibility. Economic outcomes are attributed directly to political leaders. Health-sector outcomes are used to defend or attack previous administrations. And corruption and accountability allegations are rarely discussed purely as institutional questions. They are attached to the reputations, ambitions and electoral prospects of individual political actors.
Anti-Corruption
The anti-corruption conversation recorded 387 mentions, with a substance index of 0.56 and a negative sentiment score of -0.27. The figures point to a conversation that was more substantive than personality-driven, but also strongly contested.
The most significant issue was the dispute over the reported US$1.7 billion loss connected to the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin raised the figure, citing the IMF’s sixth and final review under Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility, and called for a full parliamentary debate.
GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi subsequently rejected the claim that GoldBod had made losses, citing the Auditor-General’s 2025 report and accusing Afenyo-Markin of pursuing a smear campaign. The dispute consequently moved beyond the question of the financial position of the gold-purchasing programme into a contest over institutional responsibility and political credibility.
This makes the GoldBod dispute particularly significant within the August conversation. It contains almost every element of the broader accountability debate: a substantial financial figure, named institutions, competing interpretations of official records, parliamentary scrutiny and direct confrontation between political actors.
The case of Chairman Wontumi similarly demonstrates the intersection of institutional and personality framing. His incarceration following a court judgement became connected to illegal mining enforcement, the rule of law, NPP solidarity and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s political proximity to him.
Other accountability narratives included allegations surrounding the so-called “Holy Rain” bribery controversy, historical references to the Ford and Airbus cases, Arksa Energy and the National Cathedral. These appeared at substantially lower volumes, but their presence demonstrates how historical controversies continue to provide material for contemporary political attacks.
The Mahama administration’s dissolution of government boards introduced a contrasting accountability narrative. Government-aligned voices framed the dissolutions as an institutional reset intended to reinforce standards of accountability, integrity and performance.
The central characteristic of the anti-corruption conversation, therefore, was its dual nature. Institutional questions were present, but they were consistently personalised.
Economy
The economy theme generated 1,243 mentions, making it one of the most prominent areas of political discussion. Its substance index of 0.73 indicates that the conversation was predominantly policy-oriented, with concrete programmes, financial commitments and economic outcomes accounting for much of the discourse.
The Accra – Kumasi Expressway became the dominant economic story. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson announced that the full GH¢391.2 million, or US$35 million, required for the project would be secured by the end of 2026 without borrowing. The announcement was accompanied by claims that US$1.7 billion had already been deposited into a dedicated Bank of Ghana account.
The announcement acquired additional significance because of reported progress on route clearing. Ghana Armed Forces engineers had reduced the remaining uncleared stretch to six kilometres, before subsequent reports indicated that the full 175.6-kilometre stretch had been cleared in 19 weeks, one week ahead of the 20-week estimate.
The second major economic story concerned natural-redividends from Perseus Mining, described as seven times the previous year’s payment. The announcement generated one of the strongest individual engagement figures in the dataset, with one post attracting 1,307 engagements
Yet the economic conversation was not uniformly celebratory. One substantive critique questioned whether Ghana could use its gold-purchasing revenues to acquire medium-scale mining concessions and formalise mechanised gold production.
Alongside these policy discussions was a more personalised political contest. NPP-aligned and opposition voices continued to attribute Ghana’s previous economic difficulties directly to Bawumia’s stewardship of the economy during the Akufo-Addo administration. Conversely, pro-Bawumia content presented him as a future president and emphasised competence and leadership rather than specific economic programmes.
The economic conversation therefore contained two competing temporal narratives: a government-side emphasis on current delivery and future growth, and an opposition-side emphasis on the economic record of the previous administration.
Education
The education theme recorded 440 mentions, with a substance index of 0.65 and sentiment of -0.04. However, closer examination reveals that the apparent policy depth of the category was partly influenced by content that was education-adjacent rather than directly concerned with Ghana’s education system.
The clearest substantive thread involved Bawumia’s consultation with the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association. The discussions covered nursing and midwifery education, health infrastructure and the welfare and working conditions of frontline health workers.
This was significant because it presented Bawumia not primarily through his previous record in government, but through a forward-looking policy-building frame associated with his 2028 ambitions.
The most direct education-sector grievance concerned unpaid teacher salaries. Although relatively limited in volume, the issue was politically significant because the economic outcome of delayed salaries was attributed personally to President Mahama and Finance Minister Ato Forson.
The education conversation consequently illustrates an important limitation within the dataset: a high substance score does not necessarily mean that the underlying conversation is deeply focused on the sector itself. In this case, healthcare education and incidental keyword matches contributed substantially to the overall picture.
The 2028 Political Conversation Remains Personality-Heavy
The elections and party theme recorded 475 mentions, but unlike infrastructure, health and jobs, it was substantially more personality-driven. Of 367 classified mentions, 239 were personality-oriented and 128 policy-oriented, producing a ratio of approximately 1.9 to 1 in favour of personality content. Sentiment was mildly positive at 0.20.
The central figure was Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The #Bawumia2028 and #ItIsPossible2028 ecosystems generated extensive content around his leadership qualities, grassroots mobilisation and electoral positioning. Ahafo NPP executives were reported as pledging support and mobilisation, while other content presented Bawumia as the party’s incoming presidential candidate.
The running-mate question also surfaced, including calls for Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh to be retained on the ticket. Other content focused on polls, personal attributes and leadership identity.
There was, however, an emerging policy dimension. Bawumia’s consultation with the GRNMA represented an attempt to connect his 2028 positioning with concrete policy development in healthcare.
What is notable is what did not dominate the conversation. Despite the thematic keywords relating to primaries, delegates and internal party contests, the leading mentions contained little substantive discussion of internal NPP democracy or specific primary contests.
The election conversation was therefore primarily a conversation about Bawumia as a political brand, rather than about competing policy platforms.
Energy
The energy theme produced 349 mentions, with a substance index of 0.51 and sentiment of -0.16, placing it almost exactly at the boundary between policy and personality.
The substantive energy agenda centred on domestic crude processing, electricity generation and institutional restructuring.
President Mahama’s direction to develop a strategy for Tema Oil Refinery and Sentuo to process approximately 100,000 barrels of locallyreturn of locallystone
A second policy proposal involved the planned 1,200-megawatt state-owned power plant, intended to improve reliability and affordability of electricity.
The dissolution of boards at institutions including BOST, VALCO and GNPC also brought institutional governance directly into the energy conversation.
But the category was significantly affected by the multiple meanings of the word “power”. Political power, religious power and references to the Power Cathedral generated content that was technically captured by the thematic keyword system but had little to do with electricity or energy policy.
This is particularly important in interpreting the energy figures. The approximately equal policy-personality split does not entirely represent a genuine division over energy policy. Part of the personality component reflects keyword collision.
Nevertheless, the energy theme also contained genuine political accountability disputes, including allegations concerning ECG and Ghana Water Company losses linked to Afenyo-Markin, as well as the Arksa Energy and “Holy Rain” allegations.
Foreign policy
The foreign policy theme recorded 1,180 mentions, with a substance index of 0.63 and sentiment of -0.09.
The conversation was less focused on traditional diplomacy and more closely connected to Ghana’s economic relationship with the international system.
The $10 billion New Economy programme was the dominant international-facing policy story. The government’s emphasis on transforming cocoa into chocolate, bauxite into aluminium and critical minerals into batteries placed value addition and industrialisation at the centre of Ghana’s international economic positioning.
The World Bank’s warnings concerning infrastructure and fiscal risks associated with the programme introduced an important counter-narrative. International institutional assessments were therefore being incorporated into domestic political arguments over the government’s economic strategy.
Traditional diplomacy appeared only modestly. Ghana’s representation at the inauguration of São Tomé and Príncipe’s President Carlos Manuel Vila Nova was one of the clearest conventional diplomatic references in the sample.
Overall, the foreign-policy conversation suggests that international affairs are increasingly being interpreted through economic transformation, trade, multilateral financing and Ghana’s position within global commodity markets rather than solely through conventional diplomatic engagement.
Governance Becomes a Test of Executive Authority
Governance and law recorded the largest thematic volume in the dataset, with 1,603 mentions. Its substance index stood at 0.60, while sentiment remained marginally negative at -0.05.
The Accra – Kumasi Expressway again featured prominently, but the governance conversation also captured a series of executive and institutional interventions.
President Mahama’s 14-day ultimatum to Works, Housing and Water Rend Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga to resolve the impasse between the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and TDC Ghana Limited represented a particularly clear governance intervention
Mahama’s warning that ministers, chief executives and board members would not be permitted to exhibit indiscipline or poor performance further reinforced the administration’s emphasis on executive discipline.
The GoldBod dispute was again central, demonstrating how the same accountability issue can cut across several thematic categories. The controversy was simultaneously a financial-governance question and a personalised political confrontation involving Mahama, Sammy Gyamfi and Afenyo-Markin.
The return of GH¢70,000 by Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei, which she said had been given to members of Parliament’s Appointments Committee as a gift, represented another concrete parliamentary-integrity story.
The governance conversation therefore combined institutional action with intense political contestation, reinforcing the wider finding that Ghana’s digital political discourse increasingly interprets institutional performance through individual political actors.
Health
Health produced only 143 mentions, but it had one of the strongest substance scores in the dataset, at approximately 0.85. Of 126 classified mentions, 107 were policy-oriented and 19 personality-oriented. Sentiment was marginally positive at 0.06.
The dominant story was President Mahama’s enrolment of 13,500 nurses and midwives onto the government payroll, alongside the reported clearance of outstanding arrears.
The issue generated appreciative responses from the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives and was framed largely as a government action resolving a longstanding employment and welfare problem.
The health conversation also featured the near-completion of the Sewua Regional Hospital and debates around Agenda 111 and Zipline. Here, the political framing moved in the opposite direction: health outcomes, including the reported 965 maternal deaths in 2025, were used by an NPP-aligned commentator to argue that previous health interventions should have been sustained.
Bawumia’s GRNMA consultation again provided a forward-looking opposition narrative, focused on healthcare education, infrastructure and frontline-worker welfare.
The Ato Forson ambulance case introduced a legal and accountability dimension, while other health mentions connected galamsey, health access and public-sector performance.
The high substance score makes health one of the clearest examples of policy entering the digital political conversation without being entirely overwhelmed by personality politics.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure recorded 512 mentions, with a substance index of 0.85 and sentiment of 0.15. Of 498 classified mentions, 422 were policy-oriented.
The Accra – Kumasi Expressway overwhelmingly defined the conversation.
The combination of the financing announcement, the no-borrowing commitment and the progress of route clearing created a strong delivery narrative around the project. The reported completion of the 175.6-kilometre route-clearing exercise in 19 weeks, ahead of the 20-week target, provided a tangible implementation milestone alongside the financing announcement.
The project was repeatedly connected to the Mahama administration’s Big Push Infrastructure Programme and the broader New Economy agenda.
Personality content was comparatively limited. Where it appeared, it largely took the form of partisan credit-claiming, with NDC-aligned voices presenting the expressway as evidence of purposeful governance. Bawumia also appeared in a small number of forward-looking healthcare infrastructure consultations.
Infrastructure therefore represents one of the clearest areas in which the August political conversation moved beyond personality and towards measurable government delivery.
Jobs
The jobs theme recorded 212 mentions, with a substance index of 0.84 and sentiment of 0.11.
The dominant government-side narrative was the $10 billion New Economy programme, with approximately $2.5 billion annually projected across seven strategic sectors and agriculture and agro-processing positioned as lead sectors. A target of 250,000 jobs appeared in the monitored content, alongside references to World Bank concerns about infrastructure capacity and fiscal risks.
The Accra – Kumasi Expressway also entered the jobs conversation through its potential employment effects and the reported route-clearing milestone.
On the opposition side, Bawumia’s GRNMA consultation linked employment, professional welfare and healthcare-sector reform. The discussions covered working conditions, remuneration, deployment and professional development.
Unlike the elections and party theme, personality content remained comparatively limited in the jobs conversation. The political significance of jobs was therefore expressed more through competing claims about policy delivery than through direct personality attacks.
The Defining Political Divide: Forward-Looking Government Versus Backward-Looking Opposition
Across the thematic categories, one of the clearest patterns is the emergence of two different political temporalities.
The government-side conversation is predominantly forward-looking. It centres on financing infrastructure, creating jobs, expanding healthcare employment, developing domestic industries, increasing natural-re
The opposition conversation is more divided. Bawumia’s 2028 campaign is forward-looking when it discusses consultations with professional groups and his future leadership. But a significant part of the NPP-aligned critique of the current government remains backward-looking, drawing on past economic performance, health outcomes and governance failures.
The data explicitly records this distinction in the broader framing measures. In the elections and party conversation, the forward-looking orientation was measured at 72%, compared with 28% backward-looking. In the jobs conversation, the gap was even wider at 92% forward-looking and 8% backward-looking.
This creates an emerging political contest over two questions.
The first is whether the current government can convert announcements and implementation milestones into durable evidence of improved governance.
The second is whether the opposition can convert the memory of past economic and governance outcomes into a persuasive case for political change in 2028.
Engagement Is Not the Same As Policy Importance
The August data also demonstrates that the most visible conversation is not necessarily the most substantive.
The Perseus Mining dividend announcement generated 1,307 engagements, while content surrounding Bawumia, Samira Bawumia and the Power Cathedral generated approximately 1,330 engagements. A TikTok post associated with Bawumia’s 2028 positioning generated 961 engagements, while the nurses and midwives payroll story generated 935 engagements.
The comparison is instructive. Personality, identity and political symbolism can generate engagement levels comparable to, or higher than, substantive policy developments.
This means that volume and engagement should not be interpreted as direct measures of policy significance. Some of the highest-performing content is driven by loyalty, identity, political competition or controversy, while some policy-heavy conversations receive comparatively modest engagement.
A Political Conversation in Transition
The August 2026 digital political conversation suggests that Ghana’s political discourse is entering a more consequential phase.
Policy has become increasingly visible. Infrastructure, jobs, healthcare, economic transformation and institutional governance are generating substantial amounts of substantive discussion. The Accra – Kumasi Expressway, the New Economy programme, nurse and midwife payroll absorption, domestic crude processing and natural-ren command significant attention
Yet personality politics has not receded. It has instead become embedded within the policy conversation.
Economic performance is interpreted through Bawumia’s record. GoldBod becomes a confrontation between Afenyo-Markin and Sammy Gyamfi. Health outcomes become evidence for or against previous administrations. Infrastructure financing becomes a test of Cassiel Ato Forson’s credibility. Bawumia’s policy consultations simultaneously function as elements of his 2028 political brand.
The result is not a simple transition from personality politics to policy politics. It is a more complex fusion of the two.
The most important political question emerging from the August conversation is therefore not simply whether Ghana’s digital political discourse is becoming more substantive. It is whether policy outcomes can ultimately acquire enough political credibility to reshape the reputations of the individuals associated with them.
For the governing NDC, infrastructure delivery, economic transformation, jobs and health interventions are increasingly becoming measures against which the Mahama administration can be judged.
For the NPP and Bawumia, past economic and governance outcomes remain part of the political record, while new policy consultations are being used to construct a forward-looking alternative.
The August conversation thus sits at the intersection of delivery, credibility and political memory. Policy is gaining ground, but personalities remain the principal vehicles through which Ghanaians encounter, interpret and contest that policy.
Franklin Cudjoe
Founding President & CEO
Twitter: @lordcudjoe
Cell:+233 244 638 178
