Unlike some persons who are in the contest to become the flagbearer of the NDC, I don’t want to believe that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor is contesting just to seek for recognition among supporters of the party.
As the former Finance Minister who excelled so well in his endeavor, he has enough recognition and visibility in the party. Above all, his hands are clean and I can put my hand in the fire to say that the man is not corrupt like ’Asomasi’ who is yet to uncoil himself from the many accusations of alleged corruption charges like the ‘ Alupre case” which is still an albatross hanging on his neck.
The truth is that Mr. Mahama has never been a winnable candidate for the NDC. He is the first person to literally inherit the presidency in this 4th Republic when his boss, Professor Fiifi Atta Mills died untimely and mysteriously before the 2016 General Election. The party allowed him to go unopposed in 2016 and the result was devastating.
The man lost by an unbelievable margin of more than one million votes. Even when he went unopposed during the primaries, many delegates voted against him at the Tamale Congress. That tells how “popular’ the man was in his party.
In 2019 when some stalwarts in the party contested him, him and his hatchet man, Asiedu Nketia made sure the other contestants lost to the man. Everybody, including Mr. Mahama knew that they did not win the 2012 Presidential Election.
The matter ended up in the Supreme Court and the nine honorable judges who sat on the case became divided. Four supported John Mahama while four supported the petitioners. For reasons yet to be explained to Ghanaians, Justice William Atuguba threw his weight behind the four judges who supported Mr. Mahama and so he was sworn in following that split decision as the President of Ghana.
He shamelessly held the Holy Bible and did swear the Oath of Office, knowing very well that he did not deserve that honour.
Everybody thought haven become an accomplished loser, he will put his house in order to win the 2020 Presidential Election, but no. Again, he lost by more than five hundred thousand votes.
He called his gullible supporters to the streets to destroy properties and cause mayhem before taking the matter to the Supreme Court. He lost by a unanimous decision of seven to zero (7:0). He has since refused to accept that decision and he walks around with ‘Mr. President-Elect’ tag firmly fixed on his broad chest, insulting the distinguished Supreme Court Judges ‘by heart’ as if he has madness embedded in his stomach.
I don’t know his handlers know the effect of not accepting defeat and congratulating the winner will affect his image politically, in future. Professor Atta Mills won by only forty eight thousand (48,000) votes against Candidate Nana Akufo-Addo but Nana accepted defeat and congratulated him.
When the Supreme Court narrowly decided for Mr. Mahama, the same Nana Akufo-Addo quickly congratulated Mahama at the forecourt of the Supreme Court and wished him well. But look at what this Bole/Bamboi bully is doing, two years after his defeat? Out of frustration and his inordinate lust for political power, he is now on the prowl against, judges, the clergy, journalists, Civil Society, chiefs, the state security etc.
Dr. Duffuor and his team should stay focused and remember that they are dealing with a very dangerous politician who will do everything to destroy him before the Delegates Congress. As long as Asiedu Nketia is alive the criminal agenda will keep on burning. Just look at how the two Mafia gurus clandestinely elbowed out Ofosu Ampofo.
The watchword should be vigilance. Mr. Mahama and Asiedu Nketia are fabulously rich and they may try to buy the delegates. The two guys know this is their last chance to consolidate their personal gains since they entered politics. Mahama just want to win in order to cover up his tracks of bad dealings while he was in government.
The mysterious death of Atta Mills should always be at the back of the mind of Dr. Duffuor and his team. Anything can happen when the market is going to an end.
President Akufo-Addo has closed his eyes on the ‘Alupre case” because he wants peace of mind to steer the affairs of the nation. But who knows what another president will do? That is why Mr. Mahama is not leaving any stone unturned to comeback to power again.
If he thinks the economic meltdown facing the world and Ghana for that matter is a fertile ground for him to come back to power, then he should have another thought. In this world of changing times, the economic pendulum can easily swing to the right.
Ghanaians know things were going on well before we came face to face with Covid-19 and the senseless Ukraine war. Either than that why did they give Nana a second chance? Even in the face of all these calamities, government programmes like the almighty Free SHS and others are going on. Left to the NDC this country would run into bankruptcy for them to come to power. But the all-knowing God is watching from afar.
People can chose to deliberately forget about this particular “Alupre” corruption case against Mr. Mahama but surely not me and not the supporters of Dr. Duffuor who are already using the issue to campaign against Mahama.
Those who are making noises about corruption in the present government want us to forget this case but it will not go. The late Professor Mills wanted to buy five aircrafts, including an Embraer E190 for Ghana and then Vice President John Dramani Mahama was put in charge of the negotiation.
It later came to the notice of the good old late Professor that, Mr. Mahama was involved in some underhand dealings in the process of negotiations. He set up a committee, made up of Hon. William Aboah, Mr. George Amoah and Brig, Gen. Allotey who are still alive and kicking to investigate the VEEP.
Pressure was brought to bear on the President to drop the case because it was going to destroy the chances of the party in the run-up to the General Election and Prof. Mills succumbed to the pressure and so the case was swept under the carpet. Ask Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu who did spill the beans if you think I am lying. If the case is not true, why is the three- member committee silent over the years?
Mr. Mahama was happy when Professor Mills died mysteriously because he knew, long as the man lived, the matter will not die. Then he started to hijack the NDC for reasons best known to him. Today, Mr. Mahama and Asiedu Nketia have made sure all those who matter in Rawlings’ NDC are sidelined and treated like nonentities.
Their names are not even mentioned in any conversation. A new NDC, led by John Dramani Mahama is born and he is the master of all that he surveys. The deafening silence of the gurus of the party in the Volta Region doesn’t boarder Mr. Mahama. After all, that is what he wanted. The wings of the “Fante Confederacy” have been clipped and the Northern Caucuses led by Haruna Iddrisu, like Bolgatanga bulldogs, have been chained. As for the ‘Asante people’, they have been pushed to the background because as he, Mr. Mahama said if even you tar the streets of Kumasi with gold, they will still be ungrateful (What an insult to the Golden Stool).
That is why he worked so hard to put Joseph Yamin, a non Akan as a member of the National Executive there. And that is why Kwaku Boahen is hanging up there like a bat with his head facing the ground. John Dramani Mahama knows how to run but he doesn’t know how to hide. Some of us know his plans before they are hatched. Who can help me with a nib for my Fountain pen.? I have enough ink and blotting papers.
By Eric Bawah