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
The May 2026 IMANI PULSE analysis reveals a significant shift in political discourse in Ghana. Rather than centring conversations around political personalities, public discussions increasingly focused on governance outcomes, policy delivery, economic credibility, international engagement, and political preparedness.
Using IMANI PULSE’s proprietary Large Language Learning Model, 10,000 mentions across Facebook, X, TikTok, and major web-based news sources were analysed. The assessment compared discussions surrounding Mahama and Bawumia, representing the NDC and the NPP parties; Ghana’s two dominant political traditions and their most visible public figures.
The analysis found that overall sentiment remained almost perfectly neutral throughout the month, averaging approximately -0.01. This near equilibrium suggests a public that is becoming less emotionally partisan and more focused on evaluating performance, accountability, and credibility.
Most importantly, May’s discourse followed a clear progression:
Infrastructure Accountability → International Statecraft → Future Political Credibility
This evolution represents the dominant narrative trajectory observed across the IMANI PULSE dataset and provides insight into the issues most likely to shape future political engagement.
The public discourse in May 2026 was heavily policy-oriented, with discourse focusing on policy versus personality-driven framing.
Across a classified pool of 1,731 trailing mentions, the overall policy share dominated at 78.2%.
| Individual | Policy-Oriented Share | Personality-Oriented Share | Total Classified Mentions |
| John Dramani Mahama | 87.5% | 12.5% | 644 mentions |
| Mahamudu Bawumia | 66.9% | 33.1% | 1,087 mentions |
Accountability, Delivery, and Legacy Assessment (Early May Narrative Foundation)
The opening weeks of May were characterised by retrospective assessments of governance records and unfinished commitments.
Public conversations surrounding Mahama were dominated by infrastructure delivery and accountability debates. Discussions focused heavily on the Agenda 111 hospital programme, questions regarding the feasibility of delivering all proposed facilities simultaneously, and scrutiny surrounding commitments linked to the GH¢10 billion locked-up funds issue.
The key vectors were:
- #agenda-111-policy-debate
- #infrastructure-delivery-accountability
- #broken-promise-accountability
- #project-controversy-politicisation
Infrastructure emerged as the largest issue cluster, accounting for 38% of discussions, followed by foreign policy (26%), economic matters (18%), and anti-corruption concerns (13%).
Issue weighting during this period showed:
| Issue Area | Share of Discussion |
| Infrastructure | 38% |
| Foreign Policy | 26% |
| Economy | 18% |
| Anti-Corruption | 13% |
For Bawumia, the public conversation was similarly rooted in the evaluation of past performance. However, the emphasis centred on the legacy of the previous administration, particularly debates concerning digitalisation achievements, the Ghana Card programme, economic hardship, and the country’s IMF-supported recovery programme.
Key vectors included:
- #imf-economic-blame
- #digitalisation-legacy-credit-claim
- #npp-era-fiscal-accountability
- #vp-era-economic-record-accountability
During this phase, between 55% – 58% of conversations were backward-looking, reflecting a public desire to assess whether previous promises and flagship programmes delivered meaningful value, while between 42% – 45% was forward looking.
The defining question shaping discourse during this period was straightforward:
“Were the promises and flagship projects worth it?”
Governance Versus Opposition Repositioning (Middle of May)
By mid-May, political discussions began shifting away from legacy assessments and towards competing visions of leadership.
For Mahama, international engagement emerged as the most influential driver of conversation. His participation in the World Health Assembly in Geneva generated one of the month’s largest substantive policy discussions.
Conversations increasingly focused on health financing reform, healthcare sovereignty, donor dependency, and Ghana’s role in shaping global health governance. As a result, foreign policy rapidly overtook infrastructure as the dominant discussion theme.
New vectors included:
- #global-health-diplomacy
- #global-health-sovereignty
- #results-oriented-foreign-policy
- #healthcare-sovereignty-diplomacy
- #diplomatic-engagement-positioning
- #global-development-reset-framing
Within the 14-day review period, foreign policy accounted for 48% of issue discussions overall and 52% on Facebook alone.
14-Day Window
| Issue Area | Share |
| Foreign Policy | 48% |
| Infrastructure | 20% |
| Economy | 18% |
Facebook 14-Day Window
| Issue Area | Share |
| Foreign Policy | 52% |
| Infrastructure | 20% |
This marked a notable transformation in Mahama’s public narrative. The conversation expanded beyond domestic governance and increasingly positioned him within broader international policy debates.
For Bawumia, the middle of May represented a transition from former Vice President to opposition leader.
Discussions increasingly centred on opposition rebuilding, organisational renewal, political repositioning, and preparations for future electoral contests. Following his engagement with NPP Members of Parliament on May 20, the public conversation began portraying him less as a figure of the previous administration and more as the central figure of the opposition’s next political cycle.
The dominant vectors became:
- #opposition-party-rebuilding
- #opposition-repositioning
- #government-in-waiting
- #opposition-readiness-signalling
- #party-structural-rebuild
- #accountability-scrutiny-mandate
Forward-looking discussions rose dramatically, reaching between 65% and 82% of conversations during this period.
Narrative orientation evolved dramatically:
| Orientation | Share |
| Forward Looking | 65%–82% |
| Backward Looking | 18%–35% |
The defining public question evolved into:
“Can government deliver, and can the opposition rebuild?”
The Contest for Future Credibility (Late May)
By the final weeks of May, political discourse had evolved into a broader contest over future credibility.
For Mahama, conversations became increasingly divided between two competing narratives.
The strongest continuing vectors were:
- #healthcare-sovereignty-diplomacy
- #results-oriented-foreign-policy
- #economic-accountability-promise-gap
- #agenda-111-feasibility-debate
- #economic-recovery-credit-claim
The conversation effectively split into two competing narratives.
The first portrayed him as an international statesman, health diplomacy advocate, Pan-African policy actor, and voice for reform within global development systems.
The second maintained focus on domestic accountability, particularly infrastructure commitments, Agenda 111 outcomes, and fulfilment of economic promises.
Across the full 30-day period, foreign policy remained the dominant issue cluster, accounting for between 42% and 68% of discussions. Economic issues contributed between 12% and 22%, while infrastructure-related conversations represented between 8% and 18%.
| Issue Area | Share |
| Foreign Policy | 42%–68% |
| Economy | 12%–22% |
| Infrastructure | 8%–18% |
For Bawumia, the emergence of 2028 electoral positioning became one of the month’s strongest narrative developments. Discussions increasingly focused on presidential viability, campaign mobilisation, electoral competitiveness, and leadership prospects.
The strongest end-of-month vectors were:
- #2028-campaign-mobilisation
- #presidential-electability-2028
- #2028-electoral-viability-debate
- #bawumia-2028-presidential-positioning
- #presidential-viability-framing
However, this future-oriented positioning remained constrained by recurring references to the previous administration’s economic record and internal party dynamics.
Three recurring narratives consistently resurfaced across Facebook, TikTok, and X:
- IMF-related economic accountability
- Internal party cohesion challenges
- Intra-party tensions and factional divisions
Despite growing attention to future electoral prospects, significant portions of the discussion continued to evaluate Bawumia through the lens of past governance.
On TikTok, 62% of conversations remained backward-looking, while only 38% focused on future prospects. On X, the imbalance was even more pronounced, with 88% of discussions remaining tied to retrospective evaluations and only 12% focusing on future positioning.
This indicates that many voters still evaluate Bawumia primarily through the lens of the previous administration rather than future proposals
The Dominant Issues Shaping Public Sentiment
The May dataset identified four primary issue clusters driving political engagement.
- Infrastructure Delivery and Accountability
The most persistent discussions focused on infrastructure commitments, delivery outcomes, and competing claims regarding project implementation.
Vectors:
- #agenda-111-feasibility-debate
- #infrastructure-delivery-accountability
- #agenda-111-policy-debate
- #infrastructure-delivery-credit-claim
- Foreign Policy and International Engagement
By the second half of the month, international engagement became the single largest substantive issue cluster associated with Mahama, driven by discussions on global health governance and diplomatic leadership.
Vectors:
- #global-health-diplomacy
- #global-health-sovereignty
- #results-oriented-foreign-policy
- #healthcare-sovereignty-diplomacy
- #diplomatic-statecraft-visibility
- Economic Accountability
Questions surrounding economic management, fiscal responsibility, recovery claims, and IMF-related narratives remained central to discussions involving both political camps.
Vectors:
- #economic-accountability-promise-gap
- #imf-economic-blame
- #npp-era-fiscal-accountability
- #economic-recovery-credit-claim
- Opposition Rebuilding
Political readiness, organisational renewal, and opposition restructuring became increasingly influential themes in discussions surrounding Bawumia and the NPP.
Vectors:
- #opposition-party-rebuilding
- #opposition-repositioning
- #party-structural-rebuild
- #government-in-waiting
EMERGING VECTORS
Democratic Governance and Civil Liberties
Although not among the dominant issue drivers, discussions relating to democratic governance and civil liberties generated notable engagement across platforms. Conversations were influenced by narratives surrounding perceived double standards in the application of democratic principles, concerns over free expression, and allegations of political persecution.
Vectors:
- #civil-liberties-double-standard
- #civil-liberties-democratic-backsliding-accusation
- #free-speech-democratic-backsliding-claim
- #political-persecution-narrative
Internal Party Cohesion
Questions surrounding internal party unity also emerged as a recurring theme. Public discussions focused on factional tensions, organisational cohesion, and the ability of political parties to maintain internal stability during periods of transition and repositioning.
Vectors:
- #intra-npp-factional-tension
- #npp-intraparty-rift
- #intra-party-unity-failure
- #intra-ndc-succession-tension
Social Values and Constitutional Reform
A third emerging issue cluster centred on social values and constitutional governance. Discussions were driven by debates surrounding the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, public reactions to its potential signing, and broader conversations regarding constitutional reform.
Vectors:
- #anti-lgbtq-bill-signing
- #anti-lgbtq-bill-pr-deflection
- #constitutional-reform-term-extension
Although these emerging vectors accounted for a smaller share of overall conversation volume, their persistence across multiple platforms indicates that they remain important secondary narratives with the potential to become more influential as political and legislative developments unfold.
Key Finding
The most significant finding from the May 2026 IMANI PULSE dataset is that Ghanaian social media discourse was driven less by personality politics and more by substantive governance concerns.
Citizens were primarily discussing:
- Delivery of public commitments
- Accountability for past decisions
- Economic credibility
- International engagement
- Political preparedness
The near-neutral sentiment score recorded throughout the month reflects a public increasingly focused on evaluation rather than emotional partisan reaction.
Rather than asking who they support, citizens appeared to be asking whether leaders can deliver, whether promises have been fulfilled, and whether competing political actors possess the credibility required to address future challenges.
This shift towards issue-driven political discourse represents the defining characteristic of Ghana’s online political conversation in May 2026.
Source: Imani Africa
