The Presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama has urged Executives of the NDC to approach the impending Parliamentary and Presidential Elections with critical urgency and as a matter of life and death.
Former President John Dramani Mahama on 1st January 2024 marking the beginning of the year at his residence in Bole in an address to the NDC Savannah Regional Executives, Constituency Executives, MP’s and Parliamentary candidates at his said, the rank and file of the party must approach the incoming 2024 election as if it is a matter of life and death.
He said; “we are going to approach this election as if it is a matter of life and death, we must go after every single vote and when that vote is cast we must make sure that we defend every single vote God has opened the way, but we don’t need to sit and assume that we have won the elections already”
According to former President John Dramani Mahama, the opinion polls are looking good for the NDC
He added; “when you go around Ghanaians welcome you and tell you look we’ve made mistakes in 2016 and 2020 we are ready to correct that mistake in 2024 but that doesn’t mean automatically that we must sit and allow our opponents room to operate, they are capable of anything and so we must block all the loopholes and that is why we are approaching these elections very seriously”
According to former President John Dramani Mahama; “the year 2024 is a critical year and a make-or-break year for the NDC as a party and Ghana as a country. We have choices to make, we all live in this country for the last 7 years and we know what we’ve been through, I don’t have to repeat what is happening in the country today but as I say Ghanaians are ready for NDC but the question I want to ask you is are you ready for Ghanaians?”
Former President John Dramani Mahama advised the party Executives to take their work seriously to make sure that they protect the votes of Ghanaians to ensure the NDC c wins the elections of 2024.
He disclosed that the NDC election directorate has been going around conducting elections exams for NDC election officers which is very important because “if you are the Director of elections in a constituency you need to know the electoral processes thoroughly because you will be supervising the elections in that community.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama said in these elections all Constituency and Branch executives must act like election officers.
“After we’ve finished voting, nobody is going to sleep until we have our pink sheets correctly filled and we have reported the results to the locations that it has to be reported to, so that night we are all not going to sleep, your phones must be on throughout until the results are declared and all of you must stay awake and take an interest and make sure that your results are compiled properly and the pink sheets have been filled and compiled, you go to the Constituency tally center, they collate the results, everything is signed and you send it to our National tally room before you can go and sleep. I am not going to sleep myself”; he added.
Former President John Dramani Mahama disclosed that a robust communication center has been tested in Kumawu and Assin North and it worked very well, adding, the center is being upscaled to involve all executives of the party.
He said Savannah region is very important to the NPP because it is where he comes from and the region in which he was born and so any time the NPP takes a constituency from the NDC they feel proud about it and that is why the NDC must fight to retain all the 7 constituencies in the Savannah region,
He said, no Constituency is too difficult to win; “it is not just about resources and money, it is about the work we do at the grassroots and how we penetrate and educate the people. They did it in Assin North 200 cedis per person all over the constituency and what did the Assin North people do, they took the money, chopped the money but voted for the right thing. I know that at some of the places our opponents are very resourceful and so we must educate the people it is not that if the money comes don’t take it, if the money comes to take it and chop it because it’s taxpayer money, your own money if they say you should swear to do it, God won’t punish you from taking your own money.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama encouraged the rank and file of the party to as well support their MPs to win the various seats in their constituency.
On behalf of all the Executives and rank and file of the party the Savannah Regional Chairman of NDC Alhaji Imoro Seidu Man Blessing thanked Former President John Dramani Mahama for his inspirational speech and advice to the Savannah regional NDC executives and promised him that they would do everything possible in their quest to win all the 7 seats available in the Savannah region for the NDC.
Chairman Alhaji Imoro Seidu Man Blessing said that all executives must work tirelessly to campaign at the grassroots level to win more votes for the party by sharing the development ideas of John Dramani Mahama and the party.