Former President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a cathedral of strong words against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying he is running a “government-as-you-go” administration without clear guidelines.

He also labelled the current government as a “super-incompetent” regime under which Ghanaians, according to him, are experiencing a level of hard times worse than the living conditions the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had claimed were hard when he was in charge as President between 2012 and 2016.

The former President was speaking Saturday in the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga, to a charged crowd of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at the close of the ninth edition of the party’s grassroots rebuilding exercise dubbed the “Unity Walk”.

“There are many other things this government is doing in an ad hoc manner. It is as if they are governing in a manner called ‘Government as You Go’. Government as You Go,” he said repeatedly as the crowd at the Ramsey Stadium cheered and blared vuvuzelas in response.

“Because for every programme that is rolled out, there is no policy, there is no guideline. And that is the problem— Government as You Go. You just dream of something; even the promises you made before the election you have not yet fulfilled; you are struggling,” he explained.

Mahama cited the dams and the factories the NPP promised Ghanaians before the 2016 polls among some amenities he said the Akufo-Addo Government had failed to deliver more than 16 months into power.

“I watched a video recently and they (the NPP) said clearly, ‘One million dollars per constituency’. Now, they are not adding what was following it, ‘per year’— ‘One million dollars per constituency per year’. Now today, we are told that it was a mere thought (he pauses for effect). It was a mere thought.

“I mean all of you were here in 2016. One village,” he told the admiring crowd as he began to mention some of the NPP’s 2016 election campaign clauses. “One dam,” the crowd responded. “One district,” he recounted. The gathering replied, “One factory”. “One million,” he said. “One constituency,” they both chorused. “Now they say one ambulance, one district. One blood, one drone,” he added as the multitude sighed and laughed.



When Mahama coughs, NPP catches cold — Amaliba

The Unity Walk lasted about two hours through a 10.2-kilometre-long stretch in the regional capital. Scores of residents, including children, stood by the roadside to catch a glimpse of the former president and other big names in the party.



General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, and presidential aspirants Alban Bagbin, Professor Joshua Alabi and Sylvester Mensah were absent. But a host of former government officials, led by former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, and incumbent Members of Parliament in the region— Dominic Ayine (Bolgatanga East), Isaac Adongo (Bolgatanga Central), James Agalga (Builsa North), Dr. Clement Apaak (Builsa South), Robert Baba Kuganab-Lem (Binduri), Benson Tongo Baba (Talensi), Edward Bawa (Bongo) and Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane (Nabdam)— were in attendance.

Legal practitioner and member of the NDC communications team, Abraham Amaliba, told Starr News the “massive crowd” seen at the Unity Walk was a clear indication that Ghanaians were disgruntled with President Akufo-Addo and the NPP.



“The hardship in this country is so pervasive that the people of this country are asking for a redeemer and that redeemer is the NDC. The continuous lies, the continuous attempts to hoodwink Ghanaians is now something that Ghanaians have seen and, so, there is a clarion call for John Dramani Mahama to come back. When John Mahama coughs, NPP catches cold.

“You can hear all over the country as people complain about hardships. They are complaining about hardships because they are making comparison between the NPP now and the NDC and they think that the NDC was much better. Petrol prices have rocketed. Petrol prices are high. Market women are crying. The Abossey-Okai auto-parts dealers are crying. Importers are crying,” said Mr. Amaliba.