Maxwell Okamafo Addo Writes: Mahama's Political Kernel Cracked For Him By Benevolence But It's Time To Give Way To Duffuor | Features

The inordinate ambition of former president John Dramani Mahama to hunt re-election to turn into president of Ghana is a topic of the political puzzle for classical political scientists to unravel. The puzzle turns into much more quizzical when you think about the historic truth of Mahama within the immediate-past two elections.

The elections in 2016 and 2020 respectively uncovered the credit score disaster of the previous president. The voters selected to consign him to the dustbin of historical past after he was decisively defeated in 2016 with a margin of just about a million votes: the primary sitting president to be subjected to such ignominious humiliation in Ghana's electoral historical past. This was barely 4 years after he had been given the good thing about doubt within the 2012 election.

The Mahama come-back ambition is even troubling whether it is positioned within the correct context of the trajectory of his climb on Ghana's political structure. This is a person who has tasted political workplace from the bottom degree of Assemblyman, moved to Parliament, appointed deputy minister, promoted to minister, elevated to Vice President and, finally, the best workplace of president.

Within the context of acceptance, the person Mahama misplaced attained a credibility disaster and this transfer to the extent of blended notion about his administration and management credentials. On the scorecard of the benchmark set by the voters, Mahama was thought-about to have fallen beneath the accepted degree to guide the county past 2016, as demonstrated by the voters in that yr's election. That was bolstered 4 years later within the 2020 election.

It is a harsh path sadly trodden by many younger politicians on this a part of the world the place, as soon as out of workplace, are prematurely retired from energetic politics. Mahama was comparatively younger when he was likened to Kwame Nkrumah for his infrastructure drive for the nation when he assumed the presidency. But only one time period later, he was voted out of workplace. But that comparability may very well be a misnomer relative to the calls for of the completely different eras.

The race to the NDC flagbearership contest for the 2024 normal election has ignited the enchantment to our acutely aware as NDC delegates begin waiting for the higher grasp craftsman who can work for the get together and salvage the nation from the present financial turmoil.

Senior residents and up to date political historians could be excused once they paraphrase and cannibalize Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia's well-liked expression, which might go like this when doubtful, take a look at the election historical past.

As indicated above, the 2016 and 2020 elections uncovered the mismanagement and incompetence of Mahama as evidenced by the decision of the voters. Even although he has not overtly declared his intention to hunt re-election for 2024 (the closest he has come to stating his place was about two weeks in the past when stated throughout a Voice of America interview that he's holding his playing cards to his chest), the previous president Mahama has been exhibiting pretentious cleverness of Kwaku Ananse with the nation.

Juxtapose that with the efficiency outcomes of his predominant – and clearly, solely contender, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, who can be but to formally declare his candidacy to guide the NDC. His document as Finance Minister beneath the late President Evans Mills speaks for himself. Ghana recorded the longest working single digit inflation for over thirty-six months;
I. Initiated the Emergency Senior High School (SHS) Project.

II. Reduced SHS from Four years to Three years
III. Provided 600 emergency school services in SHS dormitories, Assembly Halls, Classroom Blocks, Libraries
IV. Established Hila Limann SHS in Gwollu
V. Established University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Sokode Lokoe close to Ho within the Volta Region
VI. Established University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) at Sunyani
VII. Secured 3 CBD Loan out of which 1bn {dollars} was used to assemble the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant
VIII. Implemented Single Spine Salary Structure
IX. Completed the Gang-of-Six Project inherited from the Kufuor administration
X. Constructed the Polo Ground to Spintex bypass
XI. Restored Accra-Tema Railway Transport
XII. Cape Coast Sports Stadium
XIII. National Hockey Stadium
XIV. His stewardship noticed the U-20 National Team successful the World U20 Cup in Egypt
XV. Superintended the profitable Black Stars Silver Medal marketing campaign at AFCON in Angola
XIV. Superintended Ghana's 2010 World Cup Quarter Finals marketing campaign
XVII. The new High Court Complex to switch the Cocoa Affairs Court constructing Dr.Kwabena Duffuor has a confirmed observe document of each being a technocrat (along with his sensible qualification and expertise in Finance and Banking, coupled along with his expertise in governance. He, subsequently, gives the most suitable choice for management in at this second within the nation's historical past.

This isn't the time for the NDC specifically and the nation as s entire to gamble with a tried, examined however the candidate. At greatest, Mahama is an ex-president. He ought to retire into the sundown as a statesman.
Any try to make use of the Kwaku Ananse pretensions to deceive the delegates would create inner rise up and open up cracks within the get together.

Mahama might need had his palm kernel cracked for him on his ascendency to the best degree of government however he is had his day with Ghana already.