John Dramani Mahama has publicly expressed his presidential bid for the NDC after picking nomination forms, launched his campaign with new promises if voted into power and has attracted varying responses from the public.
New Promises
The former president of Ghana and candidate of the National Democratic Congress last week launched his campaign after picking nomination forms with two other candidates and some key policies hinted by Mahama included cancellation of Ex-gratia, running the government with not more than 60 ministers, a government fully tailored to the people and not premised on family-and-friends policies.
While some political analysts have described the former president’s promises as laudable, the governing New Patriotic Party has slammed the former president and questioned his competence to govern the country for the second time.
According to some NPP members, the former president was given the opportunity to lead the country beginning with his time as the vice president and to become the president but failed to turn things around for the benefit of Ghanaians and such promises as given by him are just are just empty promises.
NDC members and some Ghanaians however have expressed optimism in the “new Mahama” and opine that the return of Mahama will bring about positive change in the economy.
The Public’s View
Some political analysts have also juxtaposed John Mahama and fierce rival Nana Addo (current President of Ghana) in a close comparison and have drawn conclusions pointing to the fact that the former President Mahama under his leadership and governance though embattled certain economic challenges which also compelled his government to seek IMF bailout but with relatively positive economic indicators than what Ghanaians experience today.
Several economic variables such as GDP per capita income, inflation, depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi, Cost of living, standard of living, Government debt, etc. were among the metrics used by economists in their logical conclusions.
Benjamin Kofi Quashie, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the NDC of Africa and the Group Chairman of Allied Consortiums explained that the country needs someone who has experienced governance and can handle affairs at trying times, same sentiments shared by the NDC presidential candidate John Mahama during his campaign launch where stressed that experience is needed to fix the country.
The country needs someone who has been tried and tested, someone we can trust to handle the affairs of Ghana at this crucial moment, He said.
He has come through the ranks–being a member of Parliament, Deputy Minister, Minister, a Vice President and President. He’s only coming back to finish what he started, simple. Some of his projects–the E-Blocks, Saglemi Housing Project and many others–are left uncompleted, He added.
A political scientist and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has also mentioned that NDC must ensure that its manifesto sits well with the people to be able to win power.
He stressed that the NDC’s manifesto must resonate with the rank-and-file and the ordinary Ghanaian on the street and that will win acceptance from the populace.
They need a manifesto and by manifesto; I am talking about a manifesto which will resonate with the people. That is, it syncs with the interest of the ordinary on the street, everybody and the other end is your message, He opined.
