I suffered “incumbency disadvantage” – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has blamed his defeat in the 2016 election on what he describes as incumbency disadvantage.

According to the former President, while his main opponent, now President Akufo-Addo, was promising everything to secure votes, he as president, was restricted on the kind of promises he could make because he knew the strength of the economy.

“I had an incumbency disadvantage. I knew what the economy could give the people and I told the people the truth that we need more hard work to be able to get out of where we are; my opponent promised heaven and you have the constraints of not being able to promise all the rosy things he was doing. The people made a choice and voted me out” Mr. Mahama said while he addressed a gathering at Durban in South Africa.

He added: ” If he [President Nana Akufo-Addo] is able to deliver on his promises, good; if he is not able too, the people would have learnt that not all that glitters is gold”.

Mr. Mahama also Africans to show interest in how their government manages their resources.

“Every month when I work, part of my salary is taken as tax, so as a citizen I want to be sure that whoever has been elected into government is going to be accountable on how he uses that money to improve my life”.

Mr. Mahama is the first Ghanaian sitting president to have an lost election.