Mahama took a long walk into opposition - Sammy Awuku

National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Awuku observed that the NDC prioritized projects that did not put food on the table of the suffering masses, using the Circle interchange as an example.

He said former President John Dramani Mahama, who was the leader of the NDC in the 2016 elections, failed to constantly ascertain that he had the real following resulting in the disconnection with the populace,and eventually leading to his long walk into opposition.

“Not all persons in NDC had former candidate Mahama at heart. When you are political a leader you have to constantly surround yourself with praise singers and persons with objective mind. As a leader, you must constantly turn back to see if your followers are behind you. If you are a leader and realize that your followers are not behind you, then you are taking a long walk. Mahama took a long walk into opposition”, he revealed on Joy Fm’s news analysis programme, Newsfile.

He said the self denial by the NDC will further worsen its woes, cautioning them to be careful before it disintegrates the party's front.

“This is not the first time a political party, after an election being it victory or defeat, has embarked on a massive exercise to determine their strengths and weaknesses and the cause of its electoral verdict in time past”, he added.

“For the NPP, we had the stolen verdict in 1992, the bought verdict in 1996, Hayman committee report in 2008 and just some few weeks ago, the committee we put in place, Poku Adusei Committee submitted its report to the steering committee of the NPP about our strength and weaknesses and what happened in our 2016 campaign".

"Apart from the General Secretary, who I was with that day after taking it, we thanked them and locked it in a safe at the party’s headquarters”, he revealed.

According to him, when the NPP lost the 2008 elections and Dr Kobina Arthur Kennedy authored ‘Chasing the elephant to the bush’, the NDC virtually substituted that with the party’s committee report and used it to get back at them.

“I feel sorry that the report has leaked. They are dazed by the leakage. The self denial will worsen their plight because they cannot implement the recommendation of the report. You don’t need the Kwesi Botchwey  report to know the party suffered logistical constraints in the Ashanti Region”, he stressed.