Did the NDC executives and EC mastermind Mahama’s humiliating election defeat?

I read with extreme puzzlement, the former President John Dramani Mahama’s most recent caution to the Electoral Commission not to attempt to rig the 2024 general elections for any group or group of persons.

Take my word for it, my dear reader, this article does not seek to malign or impugn irresponsibility on any individuals, far from it.

But for the sake of balanced political annotation and to set the records straight, it is important to grub into the seemingly political gimmicks being exhibited by former President Mahama and his diehard supporters towards the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

Given the circumstances, observers cannot be far from right in suggesting that Mahama and his supporters are destined to reject any results other than a victory in 2024, as to them, their opponent could only win through vote rigging.

If you may remember, before the 2020 general elections, the NDC 2020 flagbearer, former President John Dramani Mahama, ventilated his arousing disgust over alleged infractions in the 2020 voter register and threatened to reject the election results.

Sometime in 2019, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II delivered a euphonious and purposeful speech at the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Forum on Culture and Peace on September 13, 2019, in which he earnestly revealed that, in the interest of peace and security, he held several meetings with the 2016 presidential candidates, before, during and after the general elections and persuaded the losing candidate to concede defeat.

Disappointingly, however, following the Asantehene’s chilling revelation at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the erstwhile Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, on behalf of the Office of the former president, John Dramani Mahama, swiftly came out and denied the forward-thinking Asante King’s seemingly credible exposition to the utter dismay of the well-meaning Ghanaians.

Some of us were not the least dumbfounded to hear that the Asantehene had to persuade Ex-President Mahama to accept defeat in the 2016 general elections, in the sense that the former president had allegedly claimed during his presentation at the Oxford University Business School Distinguished Speaker Seminar that the 2016 election was rigged (see: 2016 election rigged-Mahama; dailyguidenetwork.com/ghanaweb.com, 13/05/2019).

If that was to be the case, wouldn’t conventional wisdom tell us that someone who seriously believed that the election had been rigged in favour of his opponent would hesitate to accept defeat?

More so, why did the then Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Charlotte Osei, only find it somewhat convenient to announce the election results after the former president had conceded and congratulated his opponent, Nana Akufo-Addo?

Strangely, former President Mahama and some other members of the opposition NDC have been blaming their humiliating 2016 election defeat on a technical hitch to both the Electoral Commission and the NDC’s results collation systems.

The former president would lament: “As I speak, I am not aware that the Electoral Commission has carried out any investigation into what compromised their IT system,” he complained, adding that political parties, as stakeholders, have not been briefed about what corrupted the IT system of the EC.”

Ex-President Mahama continued: “Ghanaians, in the interest of transparency, want to know what happened during the last polls before the next election in 2020.”

When I was perusing through the weird story, I thought I was dreaming. But I was not, I was alive and kicking. The story was so bizarre, so to speak.

We cannot, therefore, deny or hide the fact that Mahama and his teeming supporters are struggling to heal the wounds of their humiliating election defeat.

Former President Mahama has since blamed everyone and everything else for his historic election defeat except himself.

Ex-President Mahama was at his finger-pointing best when he bizarrely accused the NDC Executives of diverting 2016 electioneering campaign funds which culminated in his humiliating defeat.

The former president lividly poured his heart out when addressing the NDC Executives in the Awutu Senya Constituency in the Central Region on Wednesday 26th September 2018 (See: We won’t allow campaign funds, logistics to be diverted – Mahama;citinewsroom.com/ghanaweb.com, 27/09/2018).

Ex-President Mahama is reported to have lamented: “I have noted all our mistakes. We realized campaign funds were diverted, but we have learned our lessons. We will ensure campaign funds go through the right channel to get the campaign done. In 2020, we must rise up and be vigilant.”

Well, whether the NDC Executives diverted electioneering campaign funds or not, based on the NDC government’s dreadful economic management, it would have been devilishly suicidal if Ghanaians had voted one more time for Mahama in the 2016 general elections.

If you may recall, following the NDC’s 2016 humiliating election defeat, the party leadership set up a 13-member committee, presided by former Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Professor Kwesi Botchwey with the sole mandate of traveling to the length and breadth of the country to interact with the grassroot supporters and investigate the causes of the historic defeat and put forward recommendations accordingly.

Credible sources had it that the Botchwey Committee’s report indicted former President Mahama, the NDC’s 2016 flagbearer as the main cause of NDC’s humiliating defeat.

The report is alleged to have put the blame squarely at the doorsteps of former President Mahama for blatantly ignoring party structures and happily mingling with the likes of Madam Akua Donkor during the 2016 electioneering campaign.

The Kwesi Botchwey Committee’s report is alleged to have suggested that any future flagbearer of the party must, as a matter of principle, work collaboratively with the party structures by bringing on board the national and regional executives, polling agents, and those at the grassroots to assist in electioneering campaign.

The report is said to have alluded to the fact that the blatant snubbing of the grassroots, including some prominent members of the party during President Dramani Mahama’s reign largely contributed to the NDC’s election loss and not any vote rigging.

On the issue of corruption, the Botchwey Committee’s report is said to have stressed that “the then flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is the incumbent President, took advantage of his incorruptible descriptive label to the disadvantage of NDC’s flagbearer, former President Mahama, who was perceived to have endorsed corruption in his government.”

Interestingly, some aggrieved party supporters have been insisting vehemently that former President Mahama flagrantly turned a blind eye to their concerns over his needless association with ‘electioneering campaign money grabbers’.

The concerned party loyalists have since been decrying the actions and inactions of the numerous fan clubs for Mahama 2016.

There were numerous fan clubs for Mahama, among others, ‘Artists for Mahama, ‘Barbers for Mahama, Akua Donkor Ladies for Mahama, Bricklayers for Mahama, Butchers for Mahama, Mahama Ladies, Akpeteshie Sellers for Mahama, Drunkards for Mahama, Macho Men for Mahama, etc.

The aggrieved diehard NDC supporters beef stemmed from the fact that although the vast majority of the Mahama fan clubs members were novices in electioneering campaign, they were entrusted with such a responsibility regardless.

Apparently, former President Mahama’s association with the novices and the poor economic management incensed the vast majority of party faithful, who even threatened to boycott the 2016 general elections.

The NDC faithful, however, maintained that the straw that broke the camel’s back was when President Mahama strangely metamorphosed into ‘Father Christmas’ and unjustifiably gave away large portions of Ghana’s scarce resources to party apologists like Madam Akua Donkor of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), who received two four-wheel drive cars and a luxury bungalow (estimated to cost a staggering $470,000) for no work done.

As a consequence, before the 2016 general elections, there were numerous disturbing publications on the rebellious NDC supporters.

“NDC Supporters Threaten To Leave Party Over Preferential Treatment Given To John Dumelo, Mr Beautiful, Tracey Boakye and co” (ghanakasa.com).

Somehow, former President Mahama is refusing to acknowledge the fact that his calamitous errors in judgment amid rampant corruption, untold economic hardships, and business crippling dumsor largely contributed to his 2016 humiliating election defeat and not electoral fraud by his opponent.