Charles Owusu, a former Head of the Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, has called for an end to comparisons between the presidential candidates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking on a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo on November 24, 2023, Owusu emphasized the need to cease comparing Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the NPP and John Dramani Mahama of the NDC citing the fundamental difference in their political experiences.
“I always tell people that when I see them doing a comparison between NPP and NDC, it's fine, but when they go ahead to compare Bawumia and Mahama, then it becomes problematic. Bawumia hasn’t been president, while Mahama has been president before, and the regime we find ourselves in is Nana Addo Dankwa’s regime," Owusu stated.
The former Head of the Monitoring Unit stressed that comparing individuals who have held different positions within the government hierarchy could lead to misleading conclusions.
He argued that the current administration's achievements and challenges should be attributed to the sitting president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and not his vice president, Bawumia.
"So if Bawumia gets the opportunity to rule, then we can compare the two. But on a vice-presidential level, you can compare the two because all of them have been one before. And it is also worrying for Bawumia’s handlers to attribute Akufo-Addo’s achievements to him because if that happens, then it means that all the bad things associated with the government can equally be attributed to him," Owusu added.
John Mahama previously served as President of Ghana from 2012 to 2016, before losing to Akufo-Addo in the 2016 presidential election.
He unsuccessfully ran against Akufo-Addo again in the 2020 election. He is the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 general elections.
On the other hand, Akufo-Addo has handed over the leadership of the NPP to Bawumia after a 16-year tenure.
Akufo-Addo has held the position of the party's leader since 2007. As per the NPP's constitution, Dr. Bawumia, following his victory in the presidential primaries, assumes the role of the new leader of the party.
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