In our immediate past history, Ghana had a brutally frank leader called Jerry John Rawlings. This head of state was also noted for “boom” speeches and had no time for diplomatic management class.
When he had problems with some elements in the NDC, a party he founded, one of such characters now the National Chairman of the NDC described J.J. Rawlings as a barking dog which has been tamed.
The founder of the NDC, saw the NPP as his bitterest opponent, but before his demise stated that, “NPP has no time for insults but the NDC members have acerbic mouth”, and no doubt he said about some youth in the party that they were “babies with sharp teeth”.
We reference these remarks today because of the jamboree hurriedly organised in Tamale last Saturday because John Mahama has lost following in his home region in Northern Ghana. And instead of looking at strategies that will bring the NDC the votes, they have decided to intensify a smear campaign against Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, which is not resonating on the electorate.
Like someone’s response to character assassination that the “more you talk about me the more I grow fat,” NDC’s smear campaign against the presidential candidate is making him more popular.
Check the crowd Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia pulled in Yagaba-Kubori Constituency as against the NDC crowd of bussed supporters from all over the country to Tamale, and nobody requires a soothsayer to tell us what will happen on December 7.
In Tamale, speaker after speaker spared no time to run down the Vice President instead of explaining to Ghanaians the undefined 24-hour economy and the women’s banking concept.
Listen to John Mahama who has different opinion about the four-year mandate, again demonstrating his ignorance about governance as he told his supporters “four years of a good leader is better than eight years of a dishonest leader”. Although John Mahama has not spent eight years in office, his actions and words showcase him as a double tongued and dishonest person.
The NDC, so far, has not been able to communicate any consistent position on any issue. On this same issue of whether “four years is enough to make an impact or not,” the leaders of the NDC sing from different hymn books. Joshua Alabi, current campaign manager of John Mahama, then seeking to lead the party in 2022 said this about his leader then. He told NDC party delegates that, “It’s better to choose eight years than four years,” in apparent reference to John Mahama, who in the unlikely event of the people voting for him, he can only serve for four years.
We reiterate that despite our present challenges, the NPP has acquitted itself as better managers of the country. It is against this background that we throw our weight behind the proposed presidential debate by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) so as to give Ghanaians the opportunity to make informed decisions.
If the Vice President is truly a liar by the verdict of the NDC, the debate offers John Mahama the platform to establish why the NDC is so accusing Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Prior to the election of Mahamudu Bawumia as flagbearer of the NPP, John Mahama regularly mocked him for wasting his time with an Akan party. John Mahama even gambled with his last dollar that Mahamudu Bawumia would be used and dumped by the NPP. Whichever soothsayer told John Mahama this, made a false prophecy and, if he paid any money, he must go for it.
Today, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is the presidential candidate of the NPP contrary to the prophesy of John Mahama, making this year’s contest one for the sons of the north.
Recent indications are that the Vice President is making waves in the northern part of the country. It is evident that the NDC decided to hurriedly plan its campaign launch for Tamale because of the growing popularity of Vice President Bawumia.