Call on Mahama to contest needless – Lecturer

The call on former President John Dramani Mahama to announce his decision to contest in the flagbearership race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by some former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), was unnecessary, Mohammed Abass, a political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said.

According to him, those former MMDCEs who made the call on the former president did so to advance their personal interest and not that of the party.

At their maiden meeting in Accra on Saturday, 12 May 2018, the MMDCEs appointed under successive NDC governments, appealed to Mr Mahama to make an early declaration about his political intentions and also make himself available to serve the party and the nation.

This, they believe, will help the party to strategically position itself to snatch power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), which, in their view, has been unable to “better a lot of the ordinary Ghanaian, and has engaged in wanton dissipation of state resources.”

The former MMDCEs made the call in a communiqué after their meeting. Mr Mahama has always postponed his announcement with reason that a premature declaration will throw the party’s re-organisation programme out of gear.

But speaking in an interview with Accra News Naa Atswei Oduro on Monday, May 14, Mr Abass said: “ I think the call on the former president by the former MMDCEs was needless because at the end of the day it is the duty of the former president to decide whether or not he will contest.”

“Mr Mahama needs to assess the situation on the grounds before he makes the determination whether or not to contest. For me, those former MMDCEs who made the call did so in their own interest and not that of the former president or the party especially, because they were appointed by the Mills and Mahama administrations. They are clearly protecting their interest.”