John Mahama
John Mahama has for almost a decade engaged Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in a shadow boxing bout.
Prior to the 2016 polls, John Mahama had questioned the capacity of then candidate Akufo-Addo and his running mate, claiming they could not accuse him of incompetence because they had not been President before.
Then in the heat of the campaign in the 2016 polls, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia fired many questions first to Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, then Vice President and later to the President then, John Mahama, but quite strangely both developed sealed lips. They claimed running mate Mahamudu Bawumia had no credibility to question them about the management of the economy. Then on and on candidate Akufo- Addo in a very historic achievement humbled John Mahama at the polls. It took him days to make a public appearance to accept defeat.
Ever since, John Mahama has not lost the opportunity to bad-mouth the Akufo-Addo administration, and during the 2020 polls, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) abandoned the party’s social contract with the people to concentrate on perceived failures of the NPP administration.
John Mahama, characteristic of him as a joker, started mimicking Dr. Bawumia for his assertion that if the fundamentals are weak, the cedi depreciation will expose you, forgetting that some external factors have affected the growth of Ghana’s economy just as is the case in many other countries.
Despite the NDC’s attempt to paint a picture of gloom and doom under the Akufo-Addo government to sway the minds of the people, John Mahama lost the 2020 elections too. The NDC serial presidential candidate, John Mahama contested the election outcomes in the Supreme Court, but his reliefs were shut down and till date he has not accepted defeat in the 2020 elections. He is not behaving like a true sportsman as he refuses to congratulate the winner, President Akufo-Addo.
Then by the struck of the pen, the 2024 election is here with us and the presidential candidates and their political parties are out in the field selling their messages to the people. While some messages are resonating on the electorate, other candidates are struggling to sell themselves and their political parties.
The irony of this year’s electioneering is the U-turn being made 24/7 by the opposition NDC and its leader John Mahama about the issues of concern to the people like the Free Senior High School (SHS), digitalisation and health insurance scheme.
While the NDC calls Dr. Bawumia names for deceiving the people with sweet and unfulfilled promises, its candidate John Mahama does not find his main contender for Election 2024 worthy of debate on the issues that the NPP and the NDC are diametrically and ideological in disagreements.
The best platform for any of the two contenders to win at least the bragging rights is the presidential debate. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia continues to insist on a debate, but John Mahama is on his heels claiming he will not elevate the NPP candidate with a debate. In the meantime, John Mahama chases Mahamudu Bawumia with five questions.
We think John Mahama is unworthy of a leader because he is very inconsistent with his public posturing. This man, who styles himself as NDC leader, a few years ago decided to ignore Mahamudu Bawumia’s many questions about his management of the economy, over four years of dumsor and the poor state of various financial institutions.
Now Mahamudu Bawumia has responded to John Mahama’s five questions with 50 questions daring him to “man up and debate me”. We think the only way to settle the issue of which political party has a stronger and effective policy can be adduced from a debate instead of the candidates throwing questions at each other.
We urge John Mahama to demonstrate that he is a man to face off Dr. Bawumia in one-on-one debate for the electorate to assess the policies, achievements and visions of the NPP and NDC. John Mahama can no longer avoid the debate.
And the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) must prepare for the showdown now, with less than two months to the 2024 polls. That way Ghanaians will be given the opportunity to determine which candidate has the capacity and the vision to take Ghana to the Promised Land.
