Director of Communications for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, says the newly-elected flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama cannot be trusted to carry through his promises should he be re-elected at the polls in 2024.
According to him, Mr Mahama’s victory speech delivered after the NDC’s presidential and parliamentary primaries, was unconvincing and an attempt to whitewash his under-performance during his tenure in government.
“Everything the former president said yesterday [Monday] cannot be trusted. Nobody will be able to hang their hat on it. Because if you measure his performance in the past and what he’s saying, you ask the simple question, why didn’t he do these things the first time?” Ahiagbah stated while speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday.
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Mr Mahama on Monday, May 15, officially addressed party members and the nation at large, outlining some of the plans and policies he intends to implement if he wins the 2024 election.
Among other things, the former president promised to speed up investigations into the killing of late journalist, Ahmed Suale to ensure that justice is served.
But Mr. Ahiagbah says based on the history of previous killings that were not fully dealt with under Mahama, he cannot be trusted on this promise.
“Under him [John Mahama] J. B Dankwa died. Samuel Ennin died under him. Now suddenly he’s able to investigate the death of Ahmed Suale. What happened to Ennin? What about J.B. Danquah’s death? Why was it not investigated if it was that simple to just investigate that in a broad stroke?” Mr Ahiagbah quizzed.
It is unclear if Mr. Ahiagbah’s mention of Samuel Ennin was in reference to the late Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, who was killed in 2007 under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor. Meanwhile.
Mr Mahama also promised to reinstate the licenses of some of the banks that were ‘unjustly’ revoked by the NPP government.
But Mr. Ahiagbah does not think the former President can keep this promise either.
Speaking on the same show, the special aide to former president John Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari advised that the NPP communicator be disregarded.
She said the NPP is only on an endless mission to taint Mr Mahama’s reputation.
“We live in a government that has failed entirely to deliver on any promise they ever made to the good people of Ghana. He [Richard Ahiagbah literally speaks from the left and right of his mouth, and I think all he thinks about is how to make President Mahama look and sound unconvincing,” she said.
Madam Mogtari stressed that the NDC was much better at running the country since they fulfilled most promises made to Ghanaians.
“We are actually where we are, and we have so many Ghanaians, young and old, who are listening and paying rapt attention, who are actually watching and waiting to see just what Mr Mahama has to offer tells you one thing; that Mr Mahama has proven himself resilient enough.
“Mr Mahama has had occasion to indicate that he didn’t say that everything was perfect under his watch. But, go back and search the Corruption Perception Index. We were doing much better. Go and check the press freedom. We were doing much better.
“Check the Ghana Integrity Initiative report. We were doing much better. In terms of even your media freedom, we were doing much better. In terms of tolerance, taking responsibility, leadership, and equity we were doing much better,” she noted.
Meanwhile, a Political Marketing Strategist, Dr. Tutu Boahene says the results of the just-ended NDC primaries indicated that John Dramani has improved his support base.
“When you check the statistics, not just the percentage, which is the 98.9%, but the various constituencies and the numbers that were coming, he [John Mahama], has actually gathered a lot of support in some of these areas. In fact, for you to get an absolute figure of about 2,880 from Ashiaman, that is very powerful.
“And even though we know that Ashiaman is a strong area for the NDC, it tells you that the delegates went for him. And if the voting pattern in these areas is anything to go by in terms of the representation on the ground, then obviously we would expect that it is going to be a straight win probably for the NDC come 2024,” he said.