John Dramani Mahama, a former President of Ghana, has expressed his sense of vindication after being subjected to a bombardment of hostile propaganda and false charges while in office.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer emphasized the difficulties he faced in refuting the misinformation spread by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which he called a “troll factory,” during the 2016 general election.
“They had a troll factory tagging me with stealing of monies and having hotels in Dubai. It was difficult to dispel because they had a troll factory,” Mr. Mahama said, illuminating the scope of the planned defamation effort against him.
While expressing his joy after being cleared, the former President emphasized that any person would experience the same emotions after facing the kind of “baseless” accusations that were leveled against him.
“The kid of lies that were told about me…I challenged them to investigate me even before I left office. They said I had hotels in Dubai and transferred Bank of Ghana’s money into Swiss accounts.”
John Dramani Mahama
Despite demonstrating his innocence, John Dramani Mahama expressed concern that these actions were a part of the problem in Ghana’s democracy. He criticized the NPP’s propaganda-driven strategy while it was in power, charging that it made grandiose promises and would say anything to win support.
“I even watched a video of John Boadu promising jobs, saying Ghana might even need foreigners to come and fill vacancies. It was to say anything to win power. Now it’s easy for Ghanaians to say they won’t vote because they don’t see any benefit in their lives, and that is what they have created.”
John Dramani Mahama
Looking ahead, Mr. Mahama emphasized the urgent need to restore and win back the trust of Ghanaians while promoting laws and activities that really boost prosperity and enhance the quality of life for those living in the country.
Posterity Judges Good Works
According to former President John Dramani Mahama, if his administration had produced the same level of chaos as that under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghanaians would not have taken it lightly.
He opined that the current economic crisis supports a claim he made in his concession address, following the 2016 election, that future generations will evaluate his positive deeds.
“They [NPP] have created a crisis of confidence in the population in our democracy because now it’s easy for Ghanaians to think that politicians are liars; they’ll just lie for political power. If I did one-tenth of what they have done these last eight years, I’m sure that I would have been pilloried and crucified on a cross by now. There’s a bit of hypocrisy in it.”
John Dramani Mahama
“It is NPP propaganda”, Mr. Mahama claimed, adding that the NPP is in a mess and would like to drag everyone else into it.
“They are happy to push that mantra and make it look like, Oww, you are better off staying with us because if the NDC comes, it will be the same. That is the psychology of the propaganda they are doing, it’s not the same.”
John Dramani Mahama
A Third Force Like Nigeria
In comparison to Nigeria’s electoral process, the former President of Ghana noted the potential impact of a third force on Ghana’s general election.
John Dramani Mahama asserted that a third political force might have an effect on the prospects of the two big parties. He pointed out that Ghana has already seen the rise of a third force that had an impact on election results. He noted that in Ghana’s electoral history, this event had occurred twice.
Mr. Mahama mentioned Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party of Nigeria’s Presidential candidate, when he made analogies to the political climate in Nigeria. He stated that Mr. Obi offended people by defecting from the PDP (People’s Democratic Party) and joined the Labour Party (LP), where he received unexpected support that had a huge impact on the success of his campaign.
Moreover, while he spoke about the third force, he emphasized that this phenomenon was not wholly new in Ghanaian politics. He therefore remembered situations in history where the lack of a clear majority prompted new voting, stating that in 2000, a second round was required, and until Prof. John Atta Mills won in 2008, no party received more than 50% of the votes.
According to Mr. Mahama, these instances highlight the potential for smaller parties to win votes that would have otherwise gone to the major parties.
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