Ayara Pommells
The former president of Ghana, John Mahama has announced his bid for re-election. Mahama intends to contest the flagbearership race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as well as the 2020 elections.
Mahama became president in 2012 but lost to the New Patriotic Party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016, making him the first ever president of the country not to have served a second term.
Mahama’s term was shrouded in allegations of fraud and corruption. The administration was accused of misappropriating millions of dollars.
Shortly after Mahama’s win, he sparked outrage when he allegedly accepted a vehicle valued at $100,000 from Djibril Kanazoe, a Burkinabe contractor. Kanazoe was awarded a $650,000 contract to build a security wall at Ghana’s embassy in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou. The transaction appeared to set the tone for the rest of Mahama’s time as leader of the country.
Ghana is often used as a benchmark for Africa’s booming economy, but Mahama’s stint in office was blamed for earning the country’s lowest corruption perception since 2012. The 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released in February showed that the local chapter of Transparency International, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), scored Ghana 40 out of a possible 100.
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, welcomes Mahama’s bid but also wants the nation to remember the fallout from his reign.
“What do we remember Mahama for? We remember him for his lies, when he told us he will make the national Health Insurance a one-time premium and failed to deliver on it, also when he told us the guinea fowls have flew to Burkina Faso, so his coming back is not something new to us at all,” he told Kasapa FM.
But Mahama has already equipped himself with an army of supporters. On Aug. 24, a list of ninety-four NDC MPs who endorsed Mahama as a candidate for the presidency, was finally made available to the public.
“As Members of Parliament, we would like to express our profound gratitude to His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama for hearkening to the cries of our Constituents which we presented to him when we met him four (4) months ago. Our Constituents had one simple message– President Mahama should avail himself to the people of Ghana to salvage the sinking ship under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Today He has heeded the clarion call of the people and we are grateful,” they said in a statement released to the public.
The NDC has slated Dec. 7, 2018, for the appointment of its flagbearer for the 2020 presidential election.
