Let’s strengthen our institutions – Mahama

The presidential candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama, has called for a collective effort to strengthen institutions that anchor the country’s democracy to enable them offer the right service and the mandate given to them by the people devoid of partisan consideration.

Mr Mahama was speaking in an interview with the media.

The former president noted that Ghana can learn a lot of lessons from the just-ended elections of the United States, including the independence of state institutions.

According to the NDC, despite the fact that President Donald Trump, at a point, ordered that there be a complete halt of the counting of the ballots, the institutions were independent and assertive.

Mr Mahama said: “And that is the kind of predictability and strengthening of institutions we seek in Ghana. That institutions are able to work without political influence and I wonder what would have happened if the same was happening in Ghana. But we will see how things go.”

The NDC Presidential candidate, therefore, emphasised the need for a collective effort to strengthen institutions like the Electoral Commission, the judiciary, the legislature and those institutions that anchor Ghana's democracy to offer the right service and mandate that the people have given them, without any partisan consideration.

Mr Mahama said another lesson that can be learnt from the US elections is that when a leader becomes divisive, pursues his personal and family interest and abandons his allies, a time would come when the people will rise up and make a decision that protects their interest just like how it happened in the US.

He was very optimistic that the NDC will win the upcoming December polls, to be able to work with the US president-elect, Joe Biden.

“When I talk about working together, Ghana, of course, we live in a global village and US as the most powerful country in the world has connections with what we do here in Ghana. When I was the president, we successfully negotiated the Millennium Challenge Account. Unfortunately, this government messed up with the PDS,” Mr Mahama said.