2020: I’ll support whoever leads NDC – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has said he will support fully whoever emerges as flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2020 general elections although he did not explicitly say whether or not he will run again.

At a meeting with his former appointees on 28 March, Mr Mahama said: “I believe for people talking about leadership and presidency, it’s absolutely premature.”

According to him, the party must first be fixed before a new flag bearer is thought of. “If you ride a lame horse into a race and you lose the race, your priority must be to cure the lameness of the horse and not about who’ll ride the horse again. You have to cure the horse and make sure it’s no longer lame. And once you have a fit, healthy horse, it will throw up who the jockey should be. And so absolutely, I believe that the issue of leadership is based on the dynamics of the time. If we do our work well, we do good branch reorganisation, bring it to the constituency level, to the regional level and have a strong, healthy party, the dynamics of the time will determine who should lead the party.

“And I am saying that whoever leads the party, I’m a committed member, I’ll support that person to the hilt. And, so, going on air and blaming so os and so for this and that, I don’t think it helps the unity [of the party]. At this time we must be standing together,” Mr Mahama said.

The former president has also asked critics within his party to directly hold him responsible for the loss of the NDC in the 2016 general elections.

“The cause of our loss is multifaceted,” he told his former appointees at a meeting on 28 March, adding that those going on air to blame fellow party members and specific members of his administration for the defeat must redirect those accusations at him since he led the party into the elections.

“Of course as the General who led us into battle, I take ultimate responsibility for our losing the election, and so if it will satisfy those people, blame me for the loss,” Mr Mahama said.