Ex-President John Dramani Mahama
The Editor of pro-NDC newspaper, the Informer, Andy Kankam, has said that some persons who were around former President John Mahama while in power, are responsible for his historic election defeat. According to him, these individuals prevented people from constructively criticizing the president while in office, hence giving the impression to the president that all was well with his party and the country.
There appears to be brewing tension within the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the party’s 2016 election defeat, with some persons being accused of misappropriating funds meant for campaign activities hence the historic loss.
A recent newspaper publication suggested that, the former President, John Mahama, has threatened to publish the names of people who received various sums of money from him for campaign activities.
But speaking on Eyewitness News, the Editor of the pro-NDC newspaper said “I see this as very unhealthy for the image of the former president [John Mahama] and his wife [Lordina Mahama], if what the paper has published is true.”
According to him, the president must channel any concern he has about events that led to the party’s loss to the Prof. Kwesi Botchwey-led committee which has been constituted to embark on a fact-finding mission to identify the cause of NDC’s defeat in the 2016 elections.
“If the former president has any issue, as a leader, I think that he should have channeled this to the committee,” Andy Kankam said. He lamented that, after stating that the president must not be deceived into thinking he would win the 2016 election by an overwhelming majority; some close allies to the presidency targeted and victimized him.
“If the president was allowed to be told the truth about the realities on the ground, this thing wouldn’t have happened. He would have continued to be the president of Ghana.
But some people around him would not tell him the truth,” he said.
‘Future of NDC’
Andy Kankam said the NDC can only make a significant impression in the next election in 2020 if it eschews hypocrisy and wholly address its shortcomings. “Unless he [Mahama] is not prepared to come in 2020.
If NDC will bounce back in 2020, this is the time we must let him [Mahama] know that this praise singing, this hypocrisy and when you are telling the truth, people run to him [Mahama] and tell him you don’t like him… you see what has happened? He [Mahama] is now naked… This is the time the NDC must allow people to offer constructive critics.” Meanwhile, President John Mahama has said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will “bounce back.”
In a social media update, the former president said the cause of the party’s loss was “multifaceted” but called for calm among supporters.
“The NDC will bounce back!! Cause of our loss is multifaceted. We need calm nerves & hard work to strengthen the base of party. #JMLegacy,” John Mahama said. John Mahama lost in his bid to remain president for another 4-year term.
He was defeated by the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Akufo-Addo who had unsuccessfully contested to be president on two previous occasions.
Nana Akufo-Addo polled 5,716,026 votes, representing 53.85 percent of valid votes cast, against John Dramani Mahama’s 4,731,277 votes. Many described the victory as historic, since no incumbent president in Ghana’s recent history had lost by such margin.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), subsequently formed a 13-member committee, chaired by Professor Kwesi Botchwey to investigate the cause of the party’s defeat in the December 7 polls.
-Citifmonline