Mahama must apologize to Akufo-Addo, NPP - Tema MCE

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, has mounted a stand-up objection to accusations by former President John Dramani Mahama, that President Akufo-Addo is plotting to rig the 2024 election.

In a statement that was published on social media, the MCE said the allegation is spurious and rather unbecoming of a former President.

“It is worth noting that this allegation has been made without any proof whatsoever and I think that it is rather unfortunate that it is coming from the former president who otherwise has been a very respectable person,” Hon. Amarh Ashitey wrote.

He adds that, “Given the known fact that former President Mahama is a noble human being, I would want to call on him to apologize to his colleague, President Nana Akufo-Addo and by extension, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) because this allegation unfairly rubs mud on all of us in the ruling party.”

The MCE also urged Mr. Mahama to apologize to the Electoral Commission and its Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensah.

The call comes in the wake of the former President alleging that president Akufo-Addo is nursing a plot to use the Electoral Commission, which he described as pliant and partisan, to rig the 2024 election.

According to him, Jean Mensah who heads the EC is also a pliant asset of the NPP who has began rolling out the plan through insistence on using the Ghana card as the only identification Card for electoral registration.

Mr. Mahama was speaking to the Alumni Connect of the NDC’s Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) KNUST Chapter when he made the allegation.

“We all know that the NPP lacks prioritisation because I dare say that the money that was spent in buying votes and building ad-hoc roads in Kumawu and Assin North could have cleared all the arrears of the NaBCo trainees and also cleared the arrears of the buffer stock food suppliers,” he said.

“The New Patriotic Party led by President Akufo-Addo has shown that they are prepared to resort to electoral manipulation through the pliant and partisan leadership of the Electoral Commission to hang on to power.

“It is our responsibility to give expression and manifestation to the desire of the Ghanaian people for change by remaining eternally vigilant and ensuring that the change is secured through democratic means and that no effort at undermining the change through rigging or other forms of manipulation will succeed”, the former president alleged.

“It is in this light that we in the NDC wish to make clear that we will resist and prevent any sinister plot by the EC to manipulate the outcome of the 2024 election, even before the first ballot is cast, through the needless and unacceptable insistence on the Ghana Card as the only means of registration.”

According to Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey, this allegation is dangerous because it has the propensity to incite people.

“What this does is that, it imprints in the minds of people that unless the NDC is declared victorious in the 2024 election, the election should be considered as rigged. This is not healthy and I think the earlier we backed away from such misimpression, the better for our country and our democracy.” The hardworking MCE wrote.