Former President John Dramani Mahama, says he is in a position to empathize with Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, over how key opponents directed attacks at him.
Mr. Mahama, in a Facebook post commemorating the overthrow of Dr. Nkrumah in 1966, said just like the first President, he has been a victim of character assassination, in the hands of the Danquah-Busia political tradition; which gave birth to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“57 years ago today, the Danquah-Busia political tradition conspired with external intelligence agencies to initiate Ghana’s first coup d’etat, which toppled the government of our first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. This coup was achieved through a conscious and constant campaign of falsehood and calumny.
“As a former President of Ghana who has also been at the receiving end of the Danquah-Busia tradition’s campaign of slander and sabotage, I can empathize completely with the quandary President Nkrumah found himself in.”
John Dramani Mahama
About Nkrumah’s overthrow, Mahama described the aftermath as dark days; which derailed the course of the country and Nkrumah’s vision for the African continent.
“In 1966, I was a young boy still in primary school. But I remember highlights of the dark days that followed the February 24, 1966 coup. The perpetrators woefully failed to liberate Ghana as they had promised. They instead, initiated a long nightmare that destroyed Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana and Africa.”
John Dramani Mahama
While urging Ghanaians and members of the country’s security forces to remain loyal to the current republic, Mahama, who has recently announced a bid to recapture power, called on Africans to embrace democracy.
“As today marks 57 years of that coup d’etat, I call on all fellow Ghanaians and our patriotic security agencies and armed forces to mark this day, as one of reflection and to remain loyal to the 1992 Constitution, as we begin the task of rescuing our dear nation from the dark pit the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has plunged us into.
“I further urge all Africans to give meaningful democracy a chance, the very reason for which I am presently here in Nigeria, as Head of the West African Elders Forum on an election mediation mission, as the country votes on Saturday.
John Dramani Mahama
The first ever coup d’etat Ghana experienced, took place on February 24, 1966. Ghana’s very first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown while he was in Vietnam executing a national assignment. Kwame Nkrumah in his book, ‘Dark Days in Ghana’, wrote that the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A) of the United States of America, aided the Ghana Army at the time to overthrow his government.
Dr. Nkrumah died on April 27, 1972, in Bucharest, Romania after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
NDC Prez Primaries: Nominations Closed As 4 Persons Pick Forms To Contest
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has officially closed nominations for its Presidential primaries.
At a press conference, the party revealed that four people had picked nomination forms to run in the Presidential primaries, as of the end of the nomination period.
Former President John Dramani Mahama; former mayor of Kumasi, Kojo Bosu; former finance minister Kwabena Duffour; and a businessman based in the United Kingdom, Ernest Kobeah, according to Chairman of the Election Committee, Kakra Essamuah, picked the forms to contest the Presidential primaries.
The NDC, on Wednesday 22,2023, opened nominations for its Presidential and parliamentary elections.
Aspiring parliamentary candidates obtained nomination forms from the NDC website for a fee of GHC5000, which must be paid via Mobile Money, whereas, Presidential aspirants obtained nomination forms directly from the office of the party’s General Secretary and pay a fee of GH30,000 via banker’s draft. The filing fee for the Presidential primaries is Ghc500,000, the party announced.
However, female aspirants and persons with physical disabilities, would be required to pay only 50 percent of the fee charged. For the parliamentary, the nomination will close at midnight on Saturday, February 25, 2023. Currently, the party awaits nominations to close, to tabulate the number of aspirants in the parliamentary category. However, the process, the party indicated has been over-subscribed.
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