For more than 48 hours, John Mahama, flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has taken over the media space. He has been trending on traditional and social media platforms following his engagement with journalists last Sunday.
Already, some commentators including media outlets aligned to the NDC have given John Mahama some incredible ratings. While some rate him about 90 percent for his performance, others score him over 99 percent for eloquence.
Another commentator dared Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to engage the media, claiming he would expose himself to ridicule. We do not belong to the team of handlers of the Vice President, however, we can assure Ghanaians that sooner than later Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would present himself before the media for whatever scrutiny.
The Vice President would not engage the media under the cover of darkness but in broad daylight. We cannot take away the fact that John Mahama delivered eloquently last Sunday, but it was not a ceremony for rhetoric. Those scoring John Mahama high, looked at the form of his delivery but not the substance.
We are subjecting John Mahama’s address to scrutiny to establish the substance of what he presented. John Mahama made several unsubstantiated claims accusing the government of using its policies to pose existential threat to the wellbeing of the people.
According to him, governance is not about “ma try ma kwÉ›” but it is serious business that requires experience and knowhow. As a former President, he is on the regime change agenda to reset the country. Every Ghanaian wants to get to the Promised Land where the search for better conditions of living would not be a hassle, but the right of every citizen to decent life.
Many Ghanaians dread the return of John Mahama because of the very reasons he adduced for the people to vote for him. The NDC flagbearer presented himself to the people as a rebranded John Mahama, oblivious of the saying that, “a decorated donkey is still a donkey.”
We can forgive because John Mahama is still in the short memories mode. He has forgotten that ever since he was disgraced by his abysmal performance at the polls in 2016, Ghanaians have resolved never again to suffer from short memories but to have retentive memories so that they do not hand over power again to someone who is addicted to dumsor.
This is the personality who, in the heat of the power crisis in 2016, told Ghanaians that we do not deserve load shedding to plan our lives. We are worried about the double standards in our society because when the current Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, also known as Napo asked those asking for dumsor timetable to provide it, he was accused of being arrogant.
We are not surprised at the NDC politics. They have turned politics into a dirty game fit for those ready to swim in the gutter. Ghanaians must remain focused on the ballot to ensure that the people’s will prevail on December 7.
We have told the people before, and we repeat that John Mahama has joined some of our compatriots who think that the only pathway to achieve their dreams is to engage in the various marathons like “sing-a-thon”, “cook-a-thon”, “read-a-thon” and the like. In this election season, John Mahama has decided to be on “promise-a-thon” to gain recognition from Guinness World Records. Our only hope is that he does not end up like Chef Smith.
We are convinced that John Mahama’s media engagement is to expand his “promise-a-thon” for the Guinness World Records but not to present alternative policy interventions to help him reset Ghana.