Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr
Veteran journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. has said former President John Dramani Mahama should realize that he has lost the December 7 presidential election and should concede and move on.
According to the Editor-in-Chief of the ‘New Crusading Guide’, a private newspaper, the former President should know that he was defeated by President Akufo-Addo by a margin of more than 500,000 votes and that could not be taken for granted.
President Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated former President Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be declared winner of the Monday, December 7 presidential election.
He polled 6,730,587, representing 51.303%, to beat the former President Mahama, who garnered 6,213,182, representing 47.359% in the eighth election of the Fourth Republic.
The declaration on December 9, by the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa, who is the Returning Officer of the presidential election, paved the way for President Akufo-Addo to start a second term mandate on January 7, 2021.
The President has since named a transition team in consonance with the provisions of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012, (Act 845).
The votes’ gap by the President-elect over the former President, who was staging a comeback, was some 517,405.
Mr. Mahama, however, said the election was ‘flawed’ but had not been able to adduce any evidence to back his claims.
He has also not yet exploited the channels mandated by law to challenge the so-called flawed results (i.e. through the courts system) except to incite his supporters to engage in violent demonstrations.
NDC supporters have been running battles with the police on the streets in some areas of the country without any word coming from Mr. Mahama to urge his people to remain calm.
Kweku Baako Jnr. contributing to ‘Peace FM’s’ news analysis programme, Kokrokoo, said, “So, I am surprised somebody wants to suggest that by reducing the gap to some 500,000 plus means he has done well. You lost, you lost.”
He said “when you lose a presidential election there is no second prize awarded. They won’t give you a silver medal. We don’t have bronze, silver; what we have here is a gold medal. Finished!”
He said the NDC supporters engaging in violence were being manipulated by the NDC leadership to cover up their failures.
By Ernest Kofi Adu