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His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama will deliver the state of the nation address on Thursday, February, 26, 2015.

This was announced on the floor of Parliament by the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, after Patrick Boamah, Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, asked when the President will be in the House.

The State of the Nation address will be the 3rd to be delivered by President Mahama since he was elected in December 2012.

However, the President and Founder of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe ahead of Thursday’s presentation took to Facebook to review what President Mahama said in 2014 during his State of the Nation Address.

Read below what Franklin posted on Facebook. [Unedited]

As we prepare to hear the President tell us what he believes is the State of the Nation, let us still flash back on a review of the 2014 State of the Nation Address:

Transparent and Accountable Governance

In his 2013 State of the Nation Address, the President promised to develop mechanisms for citizen based monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs, furnish MP’s with laptops to enable them to connect to their constituents and establish a Democracy Fund to provide sustainable funding to Parliament and Independent Governance institutions. The 2014 State of the Nation address featured no updates on these activities, but listed the introduction of a Code of Ethics as an achievement in the area of transparency. The 2013 calendar year ended with a spate of corruption allegations.

From SADA to GYEEDA to SUBAH to the Vicky Hamah scandal, Ghanaians were inundated on an almost daily basis with news of a new corruption allegation. Against this backdrop, it is frankly shocking that the President failed to mention any corrective measures which his government is taking to retrieve the monies lost to these Ponzi schemes.

On the whole, the President alleged that the ‘economic fundamentals’ for the nation remain sound in 2014 and [our] midterm goals are bright’. This statement is a distortion of the present situation in the country, unless the President was referring to a time in the past; considering the numerous references made to Ghana’s history and reflections of its past glories.

Information on transparency and governance is lacking in depth. With regards to corruption, aside from the fact that committees have been established and reports written, there has been not much shown on the ground to tackle corruption or explained in the Address on how measures, already taken, have benefitted the state and the economy.

Secondly, the President kindly asked the Attorney General to “vigorously defend all actions brought against the state”. This statement suggests to the average Ghanaian that the Attorney General is not clear on their job description and purpose. Is it really a requirement that the President should instruct the AG to defend the state? This explains why the state so easily gave money away before—the Attorney General was not clear that their job was to defend the state with vigour.

The President outlined that a Code of Ethics for public office holders has been completed and launched. There is no indication how the good people of Ghana will be empowered to actively hold political appointees to account in relation to the Code of Ethics. It would be more substantial if the Code of Ethics itself were made into law.

Furthermore, the President highlighted the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan and Strategy, which includes the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2013; the Conduct of Public Officers Bill 2013; the Whistle Blowers (Amendment) Bill and the infamous Right to Information Bill as the legislative measure to tackle corruption in governance. Lacking from the observation and the emphasis on the Narcotics Control Commission’s Bill, was a timeline or impression of urgency on the passing of these Bills.

Solid statistics were missing from the President’s assertion that the police Visibility Patrol Programme have had a positive effect on the crime rate in the country. Whilst we trust that the programme has been worthwhile, evaluation of its efficiency comes only with a clear understanding on what “a steady reduction in crime” actually looks like in comparison to the number of officers on the job. The same analysis also applies the claim that police patrols have had a positive impact on congestion in the cities.

It is ironic, or rather unfortunate that the section of the Address dedicated to decentralization would be titled “Deepening Centralisation”. This is indicative of the fact that the government has no clear plans on expanding the decentralization agenda in the country. The President did not speak about democratizing many of the powers he currently wields that add to the issue of “winner-takes-all” affecting our politics.

The President concedes that “by putting more power in the hands of our people at the local government level, we would be empowering our people to take their destinies into their own hands” however, he does not explicitly concede that that would mean taking that power out of his own hands.

It would be appreciated if on the topic of transparency and governance there was a more concrete commitment to improving the situation in Ghana rather than grandiose rhetoric and promises of future plans.