Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to take action and put an end to the widespread suffering that is currently affecting the country.
Speaking at a mini Hogbetsotso durbar at Dzelukope in the Volta Region on Saturday, October 28, Mr. Mahama urged citizens to mobilize and demonstrate their intolerance for policy inconsistencies, leadership failure, and acts of negligence that are hurting the economy and social life of the people.
Mahama pointed out that Ghana is currently facing avoidable challenges with divisive politics, the destruction of Ghanaian-owned businesses, and partisanship that is taking a toll on the country’s economic and social development.
He likened the significance of the Hogbetsotso festival to the resilience, grit, and tenacity of forebears who fought for freedom and emancipation from oppressors’ rule.
He urged Ghanaians to use this occasion to remind themselves of the need to liberate the nation from debilitating conditions.
Hogbetsotso is a festival that celebrates the escape of the Anlo and other Ewe people from the reign of Togbui Agorkoli, who assigned them dehumanizing tasks and punished those who failed to perform a given task.
After years of endurance, the people devised a creative and innovative plan that allowed them to escape unnoticed.
Mahama noted that Hogbetsotso demonstrates the tenacity of Ghanaians as a people to take their destiny into their own hands when it matters most.
He emphasized that the Anlo and Ewe people, and indeed all Ghanaians, are freedom-loving people who detest oppression in any form or shape.
He urged citizens to unite and overcome collective challenges, just as the people under Togbui Agorkoli realized the danger of his rule and united for peaceful and undetected exit.
Mahama lamented the deliberate attempt to disenfranchise people in the Volta Region over the last couple of years, citing the use of the military to scare people from registering during the last voter registration exercise.
He also pointed out that currency depreciation, increased prices of electricity and water, and an increase in VAT have driven up the cost of living, particularly for food.
According to him, the World Bank suggests that in 2022, the government pushed about 850,000 Ghanaians into poverty due to rising prices and the loss of purchasing power while the food security situation in the country has worsened considerably.
He expressed concern that the country is now awash with mass poverty, and corruption is on the rise.
Mahama assured that the NDC, if given the mandate in December 2024, will provide a new type of leadership that derives from past experiences and would not be reckless in managing the public purse.
The NDC, he said, has a clear strategy for reversing the economic decline, reducing the cost of government and governance, creating jobs, ensuring public accountability, reviving confidence in public institutions, creating opportunities for all, and devoting more attention to the development of the Volta Region, among others.