Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to desist from tagging journalists as terrorists.
His comment comes after Justice Eric Baah in a ruling in a defamatory suit by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas against Kennedy Agyapong, Member of Parliament for Assin Central in the Central Region, described Anas’ works as investigative terrorism.
But delivering a lecture on financing political campaigns, at the UPSA auditorium on March 22, Mr. Mahama called on all and sundry to uphold the country’s democracy, by desisting from describing journalists who have been breaking their backs for the country as terrorists.
He promised to restore confidence in the country’s democracy and governance systems, if re-elected in the 2024 elections.
“Mr. Chairman, my agenda to Build ‘TheGhana We Want Together’ from 2025, will involve far-reaching constitutional, political and governance reforms to restore confidence in our democracy and governance systems.”
John Dramani Mahama
Present at the event were some party bigwigs, members and civil society organisations from CDD-Ghana, and IDEG amongst others.
Proposal Of Political Party Funding Bill; A Body To Oversee State-Funding Of Parties
Former President John Mahama proposed a political party financing bill, as the country take steps in encouraging the state to fund political parties.
Speaking on the transparent and ethical financing of political campaigns at the University of Professional Studies (UPS), he said the debate on ethical campaign financing had been a major topic as old as Ghana’s republic. The programme was on the theme “Financing political campaigns in Ghana we want: A case for more transparent and broad-based citizen participation.”
In his view, Ghana at the moment cannot absorb additional expenditure streams associated with political party financing because it is struggling to secure an IMF bailout. In his address, Mr. Mahama averred the proposed political funding bill would determine the modalities for the funding and how the political parties would be selected to ensure fairness and transparency.
He said there should also be an independent non-political body established to regulate the funding of political parties. He argued that the issue of political party financing is crucial, especially when recent research findings by bodies such as CDD-Ghana have shown that funding had come from illegal activities such as illegal mining, oil bunkering, fraudulent businesses, and procurement deals in the award of contracts among others.
He also stated that the study found a strong link between political party funding and organized crime in Ghana, which could lead to a situation in which only a few wealthy individuals ruled the country. He stated that political parties are state political institutions, and therefore no one should ignore how they are funded.
Youth Forum Declares Support For Mahama
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth Forum has declared its unflinching support for former President John Dramani Mahama and urged the delegates to vote for him in the upcoming presidential primaries slated for May 13th, 2023.
A statement issued and signed by the Spokesperson for the Forum, Ransford Lartey, explained that former President John Dramani Mahama is the current NDC’s diadem and he is the only person who can deliver a resounding victory for the party and also restore the “lost hope” in many Ghanaians.
“The 2024 presidential election is not about experiment but rather experience… It is about someone who has done it before and his impeccable track records are there to show. The forum is imbibed with his strategy, charisma and vision which we hope would give our great party a resounding victory come 2024.
“With what we know you are capable of doing, we have at the back of our minds that it would be a one-touch victory, if you are finally voted to lead the party for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.”
NDC Youth Forum
Currently, the Youth Forum has taken steps to begin canvassing for votes from the delegates for Mr. Mahama with the “hashtag operation 99.9 percent.”
“The move is to ensure a landslide victory for H.E John Dramani Mahama, so he can lead the party and deliver for us a one-touch victory. Mr. John Dramani Mahama is someone who does not throw buzzwords around. He is a man of his word, a trailblazer, a pathfinder and an innovator and we are sure that his victory would come like a tsunami.
“It is for this reason that we have deployed our members to the political market to ensure we get the required votes for a resounding victory.”
NDC Youth Forum
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