John Dramani Mahama
A former Executive of the Tema East constituency branch of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Ashitey Adjei, alias Moshake, has declared former President John Mahama as improper for the 2024 presidential ticket of the party.
In a write-up on happenings in the party, Mr. Ashitey Adjei said the former President would also be a jumpy president if he runs for office and succeeds in getting elected a second time.
“The problem with a Mahama candidature and even possible presidency is that, he will have such little time on his hands to achieve anything meaningful. Because he has been president before, the two terms limit means that he cannot seek re-election after another term. Within just four years what can anybody do that would significantly impact the country?” Moshake asked rhetorically.
Breaking down the point, Moshake pointed out that the short four years available to a would-be president Mahama is not even four years in essence.
“He will probably spend the first year, just making appointments. This means that in essence he will have only three years to do what he intends to do and it is just unrealistic to expect that he can do anything much within the short period.”
Additionally, Moshake pointed out that Mr. Mahama has spent the better part of his life in public life – serving as an Assembly Member, then becoming MP for Bole Bamboi, becoming Deputy Communications Minister and later, Communications Minister, before becoming Vice President and President.
“Mahama has seen it all, whatever that he had to give the country has already been given and it cannot be expected that after spending decades in public office, Mahama can take just 3 years to do something extraordinary that he has not already done.”
According to Moshake, Ghana is going through serious economic challenges that require a leader who will have the time to attend to them, “not one who will be so constrained by the scarcity of time that he is likely to be jumpy in office.”
Meanwhile, he warns that for the NDC, a Mahama candidature is nothing but a selfish move that will create leadership succession chaos.
“As a party, we need to be able to convince voters that if they vote us into power, we will provide stable leadership that will take us out of the current economic doldrums. This kind of leader is everything that Mahama cannot be because of the constraint of time.
“And for us in the NDC, a Mahama candidature means we are not programming a leadership succession plan because he is leading again. If even Mahama wins to become president, the question is who will succeed him when he finishes his short one term?” Moshake asked.
He points out that, “Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is also over 70 years meaning we cannot count on her leadership going into the future because of Age but if Mahama becomes flagbearer again, she probably will be the one to whom the baton falls when Mahama’s turn is over.”
According to him, because of all of these factors, “Mahama is not suitable to lead the NDC again and by extension, lead Ghana again.”
He rather called on the opposition party to use the time it has to choose a new leader who does not have term limit constraints on his shoulder and use the current election to sell him to Ghanaian voters.
“Even if it is a truism that ex-president Mahama wants to be president again for his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, to get Mega State contracts as well as promote former president John Agyekum Kufuor’s interest or not, the NDC as a party must be wise and disqualify the dead goat that has been annoying Ghanaians.” Moshake stated.
