There is something in vogue in the country. It is called marathon or something ‘athon’ that some of our compatriots are falling over heels to participate in.
Until the advent of this craze among a section of the people to be listed among honourees of the Guinness World Records (GWR), we were enthusiastic about marathons only during athletics meet of schools and colleges, armed forces games, universities games or during the Accra Marathon.
Suddenly, our people want to run marathons in all spheres of national life; in music, cooking, painting, reading and walking among other endeavours.
It has never been an easy task to engage in marathons including those that are organised during international games.
All the endeavours that some of our brothers and sisters have engaged in have not been just fun as it drained them physically, emotionally and financially.
Despite the huge sacrifices none of our ‘athon’ participants gained any badge of honour except for the large number of cheer leaders who gathered at the event venues.
The GWR rather shocked Ghanaians to bestow the award on a one year old boy for painting.
It was a pleasant surprise to Ghanaians and welcome news to the family of the one year old boy, who received the world acclaimed honour.
Now, the marathon craze has caught on with some politicians who are on what we call ‘promise-athon’ to deceive the people to vote for them to come back to power to repeat their abysmal performance during their tenure from 2012 to 2016.
John Mahama’s ‘promise-athon’ has become very phenomenal, promising to build bridges for the people where no such facility is needed.
The NDC and John Mahama are behaving like they are new to our political landscape and are promising ‘heavens’ when in the past they could only deliver hell compelling even ‘satan’ or the ‘serpent devil’ to applaud them for causing unprecedented pain to the people.
At least, if for nothing at all, the NDC led by John Mahama ‘imprisoned’ the whole nation in the debilitating dumsor for over four years.
While on his ‘promise-athon’ craze, John Mahama, who suffers from short memories, has forgotten about the realities of the John Mahama administration.
Yes, a section of the people may be suffering from short memories like the flagbearer of the NDC, but majority of the people are scared of a return of the NDC to power.
The question is, has the NDC forgotten that John Mahama has a history of leadership, from the district assembly level, to the constituency as MP, Minister of State, Vice President and President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces when the only thing he could not have done was change Ghana into a one party state? He knew the consequences and did not dare. But today he is criss-crossing the country promising the people what he failed to deliver as President during which, as a civilian President, he appeared on stage in full military regalia.
We may not be far from right that John Mahama only enjoyed the privileges of office while the people wallowed in the pain of dumsor.
The GWR must institute a marathon for promises during this year’s electioneering in Ghana and NDC flagbearer, John Mahama, would win hands down.
Since his election as NDC flagbearer, John Mahama has acquitted himself as the best marathon runner among the presidential candidates.
In other words John Mahama has developed verbal diarrhoea for promises.
He is on what we call a ‘promise-athon’ claiming to have the magic wand to fix Ghana’s challenges; from the perennial floods in Accra, return of licences to owners of collapsed banks, payment of 20% allowances to teachers posted to rural areas, pension for commercial drivers, legalisation of Okada and the payment of salaries to assembly members just to mention but a few.
Just last week in Tema New Town, he ran another fast ‘promise-athon’ on the fishers of the area by promising them the return of the glorious days of fishing if he is elected President.
He did not end there but promised again that he would employ the youth to clean our beaches to end the era of garbage in the sea thereby affecting the output of the fishers.
The fishers began catching garbage instead of fish when John Mahama was President from 2012 to 2016 and what action did he take to halt the phenomenon. Suddenly John Mahama has become the messiah to rescue Ghana from the present global economic challenges.