Volta and Northern regions may punish Mahama - Moshake

A former executive of the Tema East constituency branch of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is warning that the decision by the party’s flagbearer to maintain Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the 2024 elections may estrange the party’s stronghold from him.

According to Stephen Ashitey Adjei, alias Moshake, voters in the Volta Region are feeling disentitled because the choice snubs their clamour for one of their own to be on the party’s 2024 ticket.

“Voltarians may punish Mahama in the 2024 elections for snubbing them,” Moshake wrote.

In a write-up on happenings in the party, the plain-talking NDC stalwart also said John Dramani Mahama has already rattled the party’s base in the Northern region and that the NDC will likely lose votes there too.

Explaining, Moshake pointed out that Voltarians feel let down by John Mahama whose first four-year term had seen no worthwhile developmental projects undertaken in the region.

“This is in spite of the fact that the NDC is a party, at all, because of the Volta Region. Besides, Voltarians are also the primary target of the party’s political opponents. And so, it was expected that to compensate Volta for the troubles that it has suffered for the sake of the NDC at least the running mate will come from there, but Mr. Mahama has disappointed them,” Moshake wrote.

Meanwhile, the former constituency executive pointed out that, even before the snubbing of their call for one of their own to be made running mate, Voltarians already felt betrayed by John Mahama.

“Of all the persons who have governed this country, it is John Mahama’s political godfather, John Agyekum Kufuor, who has been the most vicious and vindictive towards Voltarians – it was under Kufuor as President that Tsatsu Tsikata, Dan Abodakpi and the late Victor Selormey were jailed. These Voltarians were jailed to punish Volta for being the stronghold of the NDC,” Moshake wrote, questioning, “This being the case, why would Mahama make Kufuor his political godfather?”

He also pointed out that, “Mr. Mahama’s shabby relationship with our party’s founder, Jerry Rawlings, until Rawlings’ death, is still fresh on the minds of Voltarians.”

Meanwhile, in the Northern Region, Moshake warns that Mahama’s failure to appease the support base of former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, following Haruna’s humiliating removal from the leadership of the Minority is a source of disenchantment.

“It is no secret that many in the North strongly believe that Haruna’s removal was at the behest of John Mahama and Haruna’s support base has not forgiven Mahama for this. Unless this support base is appeased, in December, we are sure to have a skirt-and-blouse voting outcome there.”

Moshake further lamented that, “And all of these mistakes by John Mahama compound on his failure to resolve the Dagbon crisis when he was president.”