I want to rest – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has revealed his intention to take a rather long rest after his inability to get his mandate renewed in the December 7 election.

“Many people have asked me what my plans are. I have no plans yet. My immediate intention is to take a well-deserved rest after three years of working without a single break,” President Mahama underscored in what can be rightly described as the first hint he is giving on what he would be doing after handing over power to the President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, on January 7, 2017.

He continued, “I guess that going forward, I would be more engaged in sub-regional, continental, as well as global matters.”

President John Mahama made the disclosure last Saturday in an address at the closing ceremony of the 50th Ordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State in Abuja, Nigeria.

He took the opportunity to invite the ECOWAS Heads of State to the January 7 inauguration ceremony of Nana Akufo-Addo and thanked the regional body for the support it accorded Ghana during the polls.

“Ghana has enjoyed a very positive reputation as a model of democracy and I believe this election has consolidated that reputation even further. I am grateful to the Almighty God and the people of Ghana for the opportunity to have served in the high office of President.

“I have enjoyed a fulfilling career since I emerged on the political scene in Ghana in 1996 as a Member of Parliament for three terms. I served as a deputy minister, as a minister, a vice president and then ultimately the president of my country. During my tenure as president, we supervised some significant investments in our social and economic infrastructure and I also superintended significant structural reforms in our economy,” President Mahama recounted.

The outgoing president thanked his colleague presidents for the friendship and support they had offered him over the years and recounted some of his working experience at the ECOWAS level.

“I believe that my association with you has made some firm friendships and we would continue to keep this relationship going forward. I also want to thank my colleagues and the ECOWAS Commission for the opportunity to serve as the chair of the Authority of Heads of State. I remember during my tenure we faced many challenges together; Ebola, it was the hard work that was done by our three colleagues in the three most affected countries.

“I have great faith in our sub-regional body and I believe that with the political will our people are demonstrating, we should be able to speed up the integration process in the ECOWAS sub-region for the benefit of our people,” President Mahama added.