John Dumelo is a former NDC parliamentary aspirant in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency
• John Mahama’s ‘do-or-die’ pronouncement is a call to vigilance during elections
• This is the interpretation of actor cum politician John Dumelo
• He says the NDC will not cheat nor allow themselves to be cheated in 2024
Actor, politician and farmer, John Dumelo, has waded into former president John Dramani Mahama’s “do-or-die” comment.
He was reacting to a question on Twitter seeking his views on the terminology which has sharply divided opinions along political lines.
“Please what do you make or what’s your opinion about the “do or die” statement from your flag bearer?” a Twitter user asked.
His response in a quoted tweet read: “Simply put, elections must be won at the polling stations. We will protect the ballot box with all we have. We won’t cheat but we won’t allow ourselves to be cheated.”
Whiles appearing on a local radio station, Akina FM in the Bono Region, earlier this week, Mahama said the next general elections will be strictly policed by the National Democratic Congress at the polling station level, referring to the vote as a “do-or-die” affair.
He has since defended the terminology explaining it as an idiomatic expression that in no way meant a call to arms or violence.
Portions of what Mahama said
“There is a saying that you take lessons from whatever happens. We have learnt our lessons from the 2020 polls. The 2024 elections will be won or lost at the polling station. It will be ‘do-or-die’ at the polling stations, I am not saying all-die-be-die.
“The right thing must be done during the polls. In 2024, we will win the elections at the polling station and won’t wait for collation centre results nor petition the Supreme Court.
“There at the collation centers and polling stations, we will make sure that everything is free, transparent and fair. We don’t want to cheat them and we don’t want to be cheated. Let the vote be clean and whatever is on the hearts of voters be done.”