Disunity caused 2016 defeat – Mahama

According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had an upper hand against the NDC because factions were created among party members.

Speaking to the National Executives and defeated six flagbearer aspirants at the party’s headquarters on ways to win power in 2020, the former President called on them to come together and work in order to recapture power.

“I believe that one of our Achilles heel going into 2016 was a certain lack of unity. We didn’t go in together as one and so I think that this initiative and smoothing over any issues and differences and moving together as one into the battle of 2020 enhances our opportunity and chances of clinching victory for our great party. And so I want us to continue to work together”, Mahama indicated.

He further thanked his fellow aspirants for a good and competitive fight and reiterated his stance on unity saying that is the only key for the party to be victorious in 2020.

He said: “I want to thank my fellow aspirants for a good fight, I believe that competition is important and I guessed that what we just went through in the presidential primaries has brought out the best in our party. Our base has been energised; you’ll find that a lot of the apathy that existed in the branches appears to have been shrunk off and that is because of the very competitive nature of the process we went through. So I want to thank all of you for the good fight and a very successful presidential primary”.

The National Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and other national executives of the party met with all seven candidates who contested for the party’s flagbearership position to strategise ahead of the 2020 elections.

On his part, he called on all defeated candidates to join forces with Mahama to kick the NPP out in 2020.

“We believe that you’re major stakeholders of the party, your contribution to our forward march will be very critical because you bring diverse experience and input into the work of the party. We want to appreciate you and to assure you that as we move forward towards 2020 in our campaign, we have a place for everybody and a role for everybody to play so that together we work assiduously and capture power from the NPP”, Ofosu Ampofo noted.

Prof. Joshua Alabi speaking on behalf of the other defeated aspirants who were present at the meeting also pledged to support the cause and make sure John Mahama captures power in 2020.

He said: “In this case our objective is 2020 and I strongly believe that with what we’ve just started, we’re getting ready and very soon we shall be ready to move out there to start work and make sure we take power from the NPP. I’m very confident 2020 is for us but then we have a lot of work to do."