I regret not interacting directly with Ghanaians as President – Mahama

The presidential candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has said he regrets not interacting directly with Ghanaians when he was president.

Mr Mahama noted that he would make up for it and engage more with Ghanaians if he is re-elected president in the December 2020 polls.

“One of the regrets I have is, in my time in office, I didn’t speak directly with the people to let them understand what we were doing and, so, the vacuum was filled by a lot of propaganda from the opposition, making all kinds of accusations…"

“And, so, if I have another opportunity, I’ll speak more directly with the people.

“Often, when you become president, you have a communication minister, information minister and all kinds of people speaking on your behalf but I think it is better that the president, eyeball-to-eyeball, speak with the people and explain the policies he’s engaged in.

“I mean, when I was in office, I knew what we were doing in every sector, I could explain what we were doing in every sector and I think that the responsibility is given to the person, the mandate is given to the person who is president and I think he should take that seriously and engage with the people from time to time, more regularly than I did”, Mr Mahama said.

He continued: “I did it once a year in some kind of meet the press and all that but I think the next time I have the opportunity, I will go round the country and meet the people”.

“I will talk to them and explain to them what policies we are implementing and why everything is happening and I think that is one of my major regrets and I’ll make up for it when I become president again,” Mr Mahama said in an interview with Accra-based Starr FM on Tuesday, 3 November 2020.

Asked why he should be voted for to become President again, Mr Mahama said he is can be trusted and has the experience as a former president to do better.

“Because I’m a person you can trust, what you see is what you get, I have a track record of delivering and I believe that after the experience of having been president before, I’ll make a better president in my second term based on the fact that some issues come better to you when you have stepped back and you rethink and you go back,” the former Ghanaian leader said.