John Mahama
Governance is about service to the people. And simply put, good governance is about the exploitation, management and use of our resources. But in the Fourth Republic, some of the governments have used their mandate for personal gain and aggrandizement.
In today’s Ghana, we boast a duopoly of NPP and NDC that have had the opportunity to lead the people.
Nonetheless, there is a vast difference between the political parties in the duopoly. But why do we say so? The reasons are not far-fetched.
One of the members of the duopoly can only claim credit for a litany of promises, dumsor and unfulfilling pledges. John Mahama, who is leader of the NDC, is a walking contradiction and inconsistencies. When he took over from President John Evans Atta Mills in 2012 after his sad demise, the 2024 presidential candidate promised to build 200 senior high schools (SHS) in four years, but at the end of his tenure in 2016, he had done about 30. This same person now straddles the length and breadth of the country promising 24-hour economy and a bank for women.
John Mahama claims to be on a rescue mission and a campaign to reset the country, although he and his apparatchiks are unable to tell Ghanaians how the NDC expects to reset the country. In the true sense of the word, the distinguishing characteristics of the NDC is its inconsistently inconsistent policy initiatives.
The NDC is fond of promising a paradise today and when it fails woefully to deliver, it will on another occasion promise the people hell. Dear countrymen and women, can anyone point to any anti-poor policy of the NDC apart from JJ Rawlings’ national electrification programme and the GETFund?
John Mahama has none to his credit but during his jamboree in Tamale, he led his party leaders on a promise galore or “promise-a-thon”. John Mahama never misses the opportunity to badmouth his opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and claim the woes of the people are as a result of the inefficiencies of the NPP government.
However, John Mahama has not been able to define one policy intervention to ameliorate the pain of the people. How can the leader of a serious political party like the NDC reduce the campaign platform to clichés like “idey bee keke?” Is that the type of leader Ghana needs? We need a dynamic leadership who can harness our resources for the public good.
Faced with mounting pressure to tell Ghanaians whether he can use four years to turn the economy around, former President John Mahama told his supporters that four years was enough for a president to discharge his duties efficiently, a variation from his earlier stance.
The NDC leaders have a lot of work to do on their leader. They must not wait for the same fate that befell Joe Biden during the presidential debate. John Mahama suffers from short memories and that is why he has forgotten that while President, he told the whole world that four years was not enough for a president to execute his vision.
Former President John Mahama observed that Ghana’s four-year term for every government is insufficient for the needed investment in developing the country. He indicates that, unlike other countries where governments have ample time to roll out their development, the same cannot be said about Ghana. If John Mahama is a man who has principles and conviction, why is he always making U-turns for personal gain?
We are tired of the slogan economy and prefer practical policies like the free SHS that resonates in every home. We once again urge John Mahama not to seek an escape route because the debate platform offers him the opportunity to expose Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, after all the NDC thinks he has nothing to offer.
The NDC has always blamed the Vice President for our woes, and, if that is truly the case, why is the NDC candidate running away from the faceoff? This year, Ghanaians will not accept any excuse to dodge the debate. The debate, if for nothing at all, will settle the question as to who is who before December 7, 2024.
When he was given the first chance to govern, he lied to us. This is the same man, who in the heat of the electioneering in 2016 told the electorate, “Ghanaians complain too much.”