Former President John Dramani Mahama cannot shoulder all the blame for the “abysmal performance” of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 polls, New Crusading Guide Editor-in-Chief Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has said.

Mr Mahama, addressing his former appointees at a meeting on 28 March in Accra, asked critics within his party to directly hold him responsible for their loss in the elections.

“The cause of our loss is multifaceted,” he stated, adding: “Of course, as the General who led us into battle, I take ultimate responsibility for our losing the election, and so if it will satisfy those people, blame me for the loss.”

But reacting to the former president’s comment on Newsfile on Multi TV on Saturday 15 April, Mr Baako noted that the conduct of persons put in positions of trust during the campaign contributed to the NDC’s electoral defeat.

According to him, Mr Mahama has exhibited “leadership” by taking the blame for the party’s defeat.

“He [Mahama] has accepted ultimate responsibility for what happened and that’s leadership, but there is also the element of collective responsibility which I think for very good reasons he didn’t highlight. He couldn’t have been solely responsible for what happened,” Mr Baako stated.

“It’s good if a leader comes out to say I take ultimate responsibility, but there is the element of collective responsibility. The conduct of some of the campaigners, the key people who were put in positions of trust all contributed to the abysmal outcome of their performance. That is obvious.”