Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama
A former Deputy Attorney General has lashed out at former President John Dramani Mahama for recent comments made on his Thank You tour about the 2024 elections going to be a do-or-die affair for his party.
During an interview at the start of the second phase of his tour in the Bono East Region, Mr Mahama stressed given the events during and after the 2020 elections, the NDC would not want to go to the Supreme Court but ensure that the right things are done at the polling stations and collation centers.
“We have learnt our lessons from happenings during the 2020 polls,” Mr Mahama said on Techiman-based Akina Radio on Tuesday, September 7.
“The 2024 elections will be won or lost at the polling station. It will be do-or-die at the polling stations. The right thing must be done during the polls. We will win the elections at the polling station and won’t wait for collation centre results nor petition the Supreme Court if aggrieved,” he added.
Speaking on The Keypoints on TV3/3FM on Saturday, September 11, former Deputy Minister of Justice Joseph Dindiok Kpemka said the high status of Mahama should not have elicited such comments from him.
“If any ordinary member of the society goes out there to express himself on a subject and says that elections will be a do-or-die affair, I may give that person the benefit of the doubt,” the former Tempane Member of Parliament said.
“But you have a person, a well-placed and respected person of our society, high-profile, who has occupied the highest position of this country and he just didn’t jump there, he started from the grassroots and by dint of grace and hard work, he got all the way up there as the Number One gentleman of the country.”
“He goes to a radio station, didn’t just use the expression ‘Do or die’ and left it there, there were antecedents. He preceded it with certain statements and what did he say? One of the things he said was that they do not contemplate going t the Supreme Court anymore.”
Mr Kpemka said unsuspecting followers of the former president may take up arms in 2024 as a result of this statement.
“If you engage in this kind of politicking and then it blows up at the base in your face, you may not be able to handle whatever will be the outcome of that catastrophe and you have no idea the number of people who will be ready to die for him to be president. You have no idea.”
For him, Mr Mahama will pay for the comments sooner or later.
“As a leader, there is a certain point when you tell your followers to kill for you to have power, they will kill. Some of them will do.”
“This statement will cost him,” the former Deputy AG said about Mr Mahama’s future fortunes.