Election 2020 most incompetent – Mahama speaks

John Dramani Mahama has said the just-ended December polls is the most incompetent elections Ghana has had since its fourth republican constitution.

According to the flagbearer of the opposition NDC, prior to the 2020 polls, his party pointed some flaws committed by the Electoral Commission (EC) but they [EC] was very adamant to the call of the NDC and what they talked about resulted in the outcome of the 2020 polls.

Speaking in an interview with VOA, John Dramani Mahama stated that the 2020 Election has dented the credibility the Electoral Commission has attained for itself over the years.

Mahama explained that “This is the most incompetent election we’ve had. Everything about this election does not reach the standard that Ghana’s Electoral Commission has attained for itself."

“Ghana’s Electoral Commission is held in high esteem as one of the best Electoral Commission’s...unfortunately, this election you can even get the results right...,” he added.

The EC within 48 hours of voting on Wednesday, December 9, 2020, declared the incumbent President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the president-elect of Ghana. The NPP’s flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo polled 51% of votes to beat the NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama who polled 47% of votes according to the EC.

After the declaration of the December 7 election results, the opposition NDC alleged that the Electoral Commission (EC) liaised with the incumbent NPP to overturn the results.

John Dramani Mahama, who led the NDC into the 2020 elections, at a press conference after the EC declared President Akufo-Addo winner of the presidential race, described the elections as ‘flawed and fictionalised’.

Mahama averred that data available to his party from across all the 16 regions of Ghana showed that he had won the 2020 presidential election insisting that any other pronouncement by the EC was evidence of manipulation of figures.

He, therefore, rejected the outcome of the presidential election.

The EC has, however, on Thursday issued a statement admitting an error in the declared results.

The EC stated in its statement that the Chairperson “inadvertently used 13,433,573 as the total valid votes cast”.

“The total valid votes cast is 13,119,460. This does not change the percentages stated for each candidate and the declaration made by the Chairperson,” the EC said in the statement issued Thursday, December 10, 2020.

Watch below Mahama’s interview: