Presidential candidate of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama
I was not the least astonished to hear that former President Mahama has finally owned up to the calamitous errors in decision-making which led to the massive economic mess.
“If you would look deeper, history is broad yet deep that binds the core existence of the world. Hence, history keeps the records of events that happened in the past.
“History is a lesson in the past but can also be the greatest regret of the future. Yet the reason why there is history is because of the events that were created by man (Hughes 2010).”
Truth must be told, the former President made catastrophic mistakes during his time in office and therefore could not steer the nation to the right direction.
As a president, Mahama really disappointed the good people of Ghana with his laisser-faire style of leadership and the electorates rightly voted him out in 2016.
That being said, we have been witnessing unbridled reactive emotional responses from the diehard supporters of NDC ever since they lost the 2016 general elections to the NPP.
Some of us, as a matter of fact, cannot get our heads around how and why former President Mahama and his teeming supporters would move heaven and earth to reclaim the presidency despite the terrible errors of judgement amid massive economic meltdown.
With all due respect, former President Mahama had had enough opportunity to show discerning Ghanaians his ability to steer the nation to the right direction, but woefully failed to do so. So, what else does he want at the presidency?
Ironically, however, Ex-President Mahama is moving up and down the country and castigating President Akufo-Addo who has been fixing the unprecedented mess left behind by the erstwhile NDC administration.
Perhaps more than anything else, Ex-President Mahama is still holding on to the phantom belief that Ghanaians suffer from memory loss and therefore cannot recollect the revoltingly ugly events which took place under his watch.
If that was not the case, what would then drive a president who brought the country to its knees through catastrophic decision-making to relentlessly accuse his successor who is doing everything possible to undo the massive mess?
Contrary to former President Mahama’s sophistic assertion, discerning Ghanaians have overcome their memory loss if the 2016 election is anything to go by.
You may believe it or not, discerning Ghanaians were not much pleased about the GH12 million import tax evasion by the sibling of former President Mahama, Ibrahim Mahama. Indeed, but for the Honourable Agyapong’s whistling blowing prowess, Ghana would have been GH12 million worse off.
If you may remember, following the NDC’s humiliating 2016 election defeat, the Honourable Kennedy Agyapong came out and told Ghanaians that former President Mahama’s brother, Ibrahim Mahama, had been evading import taxes over the past few years.
The Honourable Agyapong was however rebuked, scoffed at, and queried repeatedly about the veracity of the seeming sensational story. But alas, he was proved right by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Consequently, the EOCO ordered Ibrahim Mahama to pay GH12 million as all his previous 44 cheques were dishonoured by the respective banks. How bizarre?
Unsurprisingly, however, contending schools of thought maintain that NDC lost the 2016 election largely due to gargantuan corruption scandals (Bus branding, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, STS Housing deal, the Brazilian aircraft deal, Mahama’s Ford Expedition Vehicle, amongst others).
As a matter of fact, Ghana under the erstwhile Mahama administration went into economic meltdown which regrettably brought to pass the harsh socio-economic standards of living.
It is, therefore, quite bizarre that the NDC loyalists, who are currently enjoying uninterrupted electricity, low inflation, tax reductions, favourable economic growth, gargantuan savings on free SHS amongst others, are gleefully clamouring for the return of Ex-President Mahama and their beloved NDC.
We could, therefore, argue that the diehard supporters of Mahama are living in a denial about former President Mahama’s popularity and competency.
It is absolutely true that during his calamitous administration, the vast majority of Ghanaians struggled to make a living or eke out an income.
The dreadful errors in decision-making, the incompetence and the unbridled corruption culminated in untold economic hardships.
But despite the harsh socio-economic standards of living back then, President Mahama and his vociferous apologists kept trumpeting their vague rhetoric , political insobrieties and meaningless slogans: ‘Mahama Tuaso’; ‘We care for you’; ‘people matter, you matter’; ‘we are transforming lives’.
Given the circumstances back then, I do not want to believe that anyone could have convinced the disappointed Ghanaians to forgive the NDC administration over the dubious judgement debt payment of GH51.2 million to Woyome and other corrupt practices.
The vociferous NDC communicators could not have solicited votes from Ghanaians who were extremely aggrieved about President Mahama’s freebies to all sort of people, including Madam Akua Donkor of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) of two four wheel drive cars and a luxury bungalow (estimated to cost a staggering $470,000) for no work done.
Verily, no one would have listened to the NDC’s electioneering campaigners when no meaningful efforts were put in place to stop the numerous bribery and corruption.
Trust me, it will be easier for ‘a camel to go through the eye of a needle’ than for Mahama to convince unhappy Ghanaians to forgive him in 2020, when his administration woefully shrunk Ghana’s GDP from $47 billion to $40 billion in five years.
How would the Mahama supporters expect discerning Ghanaians to give Mahama another chance at the presidency in 2020 when his government terribly dragged an economic growth of around 14 per cent in 2011 to a nauseating 3.4 per cent as of December 2016?
The Mahama loyalists must accept the fact that discerning Ghanaians could not have forgotten the terrible errors of judgement which culminated in economic hardships amid the unbridled business crippling ‘dumsor’ for well over four years.
Regrettably, President Mahama and his government’s unpardonable incompetence and corrupt practices resulted in excessive public spending, less efficient tax system , needless high public deficit and destabilization of national budgets, heightened capital flight and the creation of perverse incentives that stimulate income-seeking rather than productive activities.
On the whole, the reflective observers are of the view that the successive NDC governments have proven to be worst economic managers who can never improve upon the socio-economic standards of living of Ghanaians.
But despite their unpardonable coarse governance which brought about their heavy defeat in the 2016 general elections, the NDC faithful hold a faint hope that they will soon bounce back and recapture the power from the NPP in 2020.
Nevertheless, some of us, as a matter of conviction, do not envision the NDC returning to power anytime soon with former President Mahama, judging from the unprecedented economic mess he left behind.
Dearest reader, trust me, the unbridled corruption, the arrogance of power and the unobjectionable incompetence which culminated in economic hardships are still fresh in the memories of discerning Ghanaians.
Unfortunately though, politics has ceased being the noble profession it used to be. Needless to stress that politics these days has been dominated by wolves in sheep’s clothing.
It would, therefore, seem that the vast majority of the modern day politicians ostensible preoccupation is to manipulate their way to power and pursue their vested interests.
The question one may ask the brassbound Mahama loyalist again is: where is the justification about former President Mahama’s competence when a GH9.5 billion debt former President Kufuor left in 2009 rocketed to an incredible GH122.4 billion in just eight years with a little to show for?
How can the diehard supporters convince some of us about former President Mahama’s ability to lead Ghana again when he woefully shrunk Ghana’s GDP from $47 billion to $40 billion in five years?
How could the gleeful supporters justify former President Mahama’s suitability to lead the nation again when he abysmally dragged an economic growth of around 14 per cent in 2011 to a squeamish 3.4 per cent as of December 2016?
In ending, the Mahama faithful should take a deep introspection and accept the fact that the vast majority of aggrieved Ghanaians voted against the NDC in the 2016 election due to the incompetence, the unbridle corruption and the unresolved dumsor which brought about harsh economic conditions.