John Mahama
Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), ex-President John Dramani Mahama, has stated that the party must first earn the trust of Ghanaians in order to win the 2024 general election.
He said it would be naive for NDC members to believe that Ghanaians’ sense of despair and hopelessness, along with the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s dismal record in government, will guarantee them an easy victory at the polls, insinuating that Ghanaians do not trust the NDC either.
“We must first earn the trust of the Ghanaian people. A significant section of voters has grown skeptical and are weary of our democracy and its benefits because of unmet expectations and the spectacular failure of this government,” Mr. Mahama told the European chapters’ NDC members in Amsterdam.
He was speaking during the three-day NDC Europe Conference, during which he urged all diaspora party members to show the difference between their service in government and “the nightmarish example the NPP has set” through their actions and policy platforms.
“We have been in power, and our record is there for all to see. We do not claim perfection, but we in the NDC can never be like the NPP. We simply cannot be and are not as reckless and contemptuous of the people of Ghana as the NPP has been,” he claimed.
The ex-President, who is staging a comeback, said the NDC had never been and would not be “as wasteful, ostentatious, and as imprudent as the NPP has been.”
“We have committed to operating a lean government that avoids the NPP’s extravagance and gets the job done more efficiently. Nothing in our historical record compares to the level of economic mismanagement that the NPP has superintended,” he promised.
According to Mr. Mahama, the NDC believed in substantial offers that were well vetted and curated to stand the test of time while comprehensively handling some of the most complicated problems.
“We have no intention of taking the mandate of the people of Ghana for granted,” he intimated.
He continued, “We know we are going against an incumbent government that has proven that it is prepared to shed the blood of its citizens to hang on to power, as they amply showed at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election and the 2020 elections.”
“And then there is an Electoral Commission whose neutrality in this electoral contest is questionable.
“Our work is therefore cut out for us. We must get off our marks immediately and convince Ghanaians that we are prepared to govern in addition to our superior record to that of the NPP,” he asserted.
For the NDC flagbearer, the first step towards doing that is proving that they can manage the country’s internal affairs, noting, “which is why this European Conference is significant.”
“It offers a platform for sharing unique insights into better organisational strategies and innovative approaches to mobilising the people of Ghana for a resounding victory in 2024,” he said.
“Of particular concern to you have been the constitutional impediments to persons holding dual citizenship and their occupation of some government positions in Ghana.
“Only a few weeks ago, we suffered what we consider grave injustice when our Member of Parliament for Assin North was thrown out of Parliament by the Supreme Court on grounds we find entirely unsatisfactory.
“I have previously indicated that one of the things I will do when elected President in 2024 would be to fast-track the clarification of the constitutional provision on allegiance that bars our dual citizens from holding some offices in Ghana. I call on Parliament to do the needful so that Ghana can benefit fully from the expertise that our citizens have garnered during their sojourn abroad,” he indicated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu