Political seasons are always exciting times in any part of the world and Ghana is not an exception.
For the past few weeks the main political parties in the country, the duopoly of NPP and NDC, one of which would certainly be the governing party after the December 7, 2024 polls have engaged in programmes to “win” the bragging rights.
While the NDC is trying hard to rebrand, the NPP on the other hand wants to reassure the electorate that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the more competent presidential candidate out of the pack to deliver to the expectations of the people.
Last Saturday in Winneba, it was not only the NDC supporters who were in a frenzy at the party’s manifesto launch which ended up as a “copy fest” or if you like a ” copyfesto”, but dealers in all kinds of party paraphernalia and other merchandise as well as food vendors. The local economy of Winneba witnessed a boon.
The NDC’s “copyfesto” launch can be said to be very rich in form but poor in substance. The party’s leader, John Dramani Mahama was at his eloquent best showcasing his craft as a communicator, but failed to raise expectations beyond his stewardship as President of the Republic from 2012 to 2016.
There were obvious contradictions in the issues presented to Ghanaians by the NDC in what John Mahama described as bold interventions to “reset” the country and “Build the Ghana we all want.”
The NDC has always presented itself as a party not ready to live what it preaches, hence ever since John Mahama was booted out of office in 2016, his attempt to rebrand has always failed leaving majority of Ghanaians to ask, “what does John Mahama want again having served as assembly member, presiding member, MP, Deputy Minister, Minister, Vice President and ultimately President from July 2012 to January 2017?”
Many Ghanaians do not stress to find the answer; and they say it is just greed for power and the privileges of office, leaving many political watchers to wonder whether he is the only credible person among the scores of other notable personalities in the NDC.
We worry about the highfalutin and verbose rhetoric of John Mahama and his NDC because, very unfortunately, the youth do not seem to know the true colour and symbol of the Umbrella Family. The NDC and its leaders just engage in verbiage or if you like verbage as exemplified by the different versions of the 24-hour economy.
At the crucial manifesto launch or is it “copyfesto”, John Mahama on some occasions lost his bearing as he was struggling to explain the concept to the people, although the cheer leaders urged him on to talk about things already in place under the Akufo-Addo administration, thanks to digitalisation.
Many activities including commerce and personal engagements are done online because the “spirit” of digitalisation has caught on with everyone, including our people in the remotest parts of the country.
Other areas that John Mahama spoke about in his engagement include the undefined 24-hour economy. We have decided not to give credibility to the imaginations of John Mahama that he finds very difficult to espouse.
John Mahama at the launch of his party’s manifesto on Saturday, presented himself to Ghanaians as a “Messiah” sent by God to rescue Ghana from Akufo-Addo’s bad governance that has imposed unprecedented hardships on the people.
John Mahama now claims to be the new kid on the block telling us all that he has the magic wand to address what eluded him during his previous stewardship, to command manna to fall in every home.
Like the episodes at the once popular Concert Party, John Mahama jokes with the sentiments of Ghanaians by promising to end the pains of the people if elected, as if he is a new face on our political landscape.