John Mahama
The machinations of certain political actors beat our imaginations. These characters are on the “prowl” seeking the mandate of the people to return to power.
While they are very loud on the campaign trail beating their chest to be the best political party to run the country, they readily develop cold feet the moment the NDC and its leader, John Mahama are challenged to avail themselves to a contest of ideas at a presidential debate, they beat a fast retreat.
They are no longer interested in the message but the messenger, and, in this case, the NDC is up in arms against the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for daring to organise a presidential debate. And in this country, we are ready to reduce serious matters into a trivia, and that is why the Minority in Parliament would be challenging the Vice President to a debate over the mid-year budget presented to Parliament last Tuesday. Funny indeed.
The NDC Minority should be explaining to us whether when their candidate, John Mahama was a Vice President, he ever debated the National Budget with the Minority. The NDC Minority must get real and articulate issues as provided for in Parliament’s Standing Orders.
The strategy of the NDC is to start working on the minds of the people that this year’s elections will not be free, fair and transparent. Thus in the event of their obvious loss, in the December polls, they can find an excuse for their defeat. The election management body, the Jean Mensa-led EC has never lost the opportunity to assure all stakeholders, including the NDC, but John Mahama still believes the EC is scheming to rig the elections. Last week, John Mahama invited supporters of the NDC in the Greater Accra Region to a street walk nicknamed, “Walking for John Mahama” to get his supporters fit for the D-day, asking them to police the ballot from dawn to dusk until the declaration of the results. Elections are won in the polling booths but not in the EC strong room.
In 2008 and 2012, President J.E.A Mills and John Mahama participated in the presidential debates respectively. Maybe then, the IEA’s name was sweet melody in the ears of the NDC. Information sharing is key in educating the people about the programmes of the political parties to enable the people to make informed choices.
We urge the NDC not to run away from the debate but to encourage John Mahama to face off with Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. This will enable the electorate to determine who is better qualified to take over from President Akufo-Addo. Is it Mahamudu Bawumia, the driver’s mate who wants to be given the opportunity to prove his mettle as a successful apprentice or the experienced driver, John Mahama, who now wants to take Ghana to its final destination but failed woefully to deliver the Promised Land and was thus kicked out of office in 2016?
They should stop seeing shadows of rigging in the corridors of the EC and the Judiciary. It is against this backdrop that we reiterate the assurance by the EC Chair, Jean Mensa that in the task of conducting elections in Ghana the EC’s ultimate goal is, “transparency, transparency, transparency.”
The EC even in the wake of COVID-19 in 2020 delivered a free, fair and transparent elections, which was upheld when challenged by the NDC at the Supreme Court. If the NDC is in doubt of the EC’s assurances, we reiterate the position of Jean Mensa who delivered in 2020 thus, “from the registration to declaration, our processes are embedded in one key ingredient, and that is transparency, transparency, transparency. As such we will continue to operate in the spirit of transparency, fairness and integrity as embedded in our motto… So as referees we are committed to ensuring that our activities from now in the lead up to the election and all our electoral processes are transparent, they are open, they are fair, and they involve the collaboration of our key stakeholders, that is the political parties and the citizenry.”
Should the EC say more, to assure the NDC that measures are being put in place to guarantee the integrity of the December 7, 2024 electoral process?