We accepted defeat in 2016 to set example for NPP – Asiedu Nketia

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has disclosed that the decision of the party to peacefully concede defeat in the 2016 general elections was to set a good example for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to follow.

He said the NPP has always demonstrated ‘bad’ leadership as far as the acceptance of electoral defeat is concerned saying “the test of democracy and the test of leadership of political parties is their conduct in defeat”.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanaweb.com a year after his party lost political power to the then opposition NPP, General Mosquito as he is popularly known said, “We have been accusing NPP of never accepting defeat on any occasion so we needed to demonstrate a better quality of political leadership so that was why we did what we did.”

According to him, even though the NPP refused to accept defeat and subsequently boycotted the inauguration of former President John Dramani Mahama in 2012, the NDC showed leadership by sending a delegation including the former President to witness the swearing-in ceremony of President Nana Akufo-Addo on January 7, 2017.

December 7 marked exactly a year when eligible Ghanaian voters went to the poll to elect a president to steer the affairs of the country.

After three days of result collation by the Electoral Commission, it emerged that majority of Ghanaians voted for “change” making the then Presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo president-elect of the Republic of Ghana.

Having realised that he has been voted out of power, the then incumbent President, John Dramani Mahama, according to Mr Nketia who was recounting the NDC’s lose in 2016 organised party supporters and executives in his residence and conceded defeat without being forced to do so.

“… We quickly had to rush to our candidate’s house where he was also preparing to place a call to the then opposition leader who it was clear has won to congratulate him. From there we proceeded to the Electoral Commission to witness the official declaration. We had to do this to demonstrate that in democracy, it is not how to win that is important, it is how to lose that is more important,” he recounts.