President Mahama swears in Dr Alhassan Iddrisu as Government Statistician
President John Dramani Mahama has officially sworn in Dr Alhassan Iddrisu as the new Government Statistician, charging him to lead efforts to place credible data and evidence at the heart of Ghana’s national transformation agenda.
The brief eremony, held at the Jubilee House in Accra, was attended by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson; the Minister for the Interior; the Minister for Health; the Minister for Defence; the Minister for Communications; the Minister for Justice; and other distinguished guests.
In his acceptance remarks, Dr Iddrisu expressed profound gratitude to President Mahama for the trust reposed in him and pledged to approach the office not merely as a position, but as a sacred national duty.
“This is a call to lead the charge in placing data and evidence at the heart of governance and national transformation,” Dr Iddrisu said.
“In a rapidly changing world where information drives prosperity, the role of the Ghana Statistical Service has never been more crucial than now.”
Dr Iddrisu outlined a bold vision for the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), committing to build a modern, technology-driven, agile and trusted institution capable of producing credible, timely and relevant data to support Ghana’s macroeconomic stabilisation programme and socio-economic development initiatives.
Key among his priorities is the fast-tracking of the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to improve the quality of inflation data and extend CPI reporting to the district level to support the government’s decentralisation agenda.
He also pledged to produce inflation data on a rural-urban basis to capture price dynamics across different parts of the country.
On economic data, Dr Iddrisu announced plans to rebase Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every five years, a significant improvement on the current ten-year cycle, and begin producing regional GDP figures to inform local policy decisions. Additionally, he hinted at the introduction of Monthly Indicators of Economic Growth (MIEG) to complement the Bank of Ghana’s Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA).
Addressing employment statistics, Dr Iddrisu revealed plans to regularise the production of quarterly employment and unemployment data to better track labour market trends, job creation under government flagship programmes, and youth unemployment rates.
“With the enduring support of the President, the Honourable Finance Minister, our development partners, and the good people of Ghana, I am committed to working with the exceptional team at GSS to position our Service as a world-class institution and a trusted pillar in Ghana’s development journey,” Dr Iddrisu affirmed.
Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, an economist and statistician, brings to the role extensive experience in macroeconomic management, public policy and data analysis.
