General News of Sunday, 20 May 2018

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Mahama breaks silence; declares intention to contest 2020 polls

Former President John Dramani Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama

Former president John Dramani Mahama who has been silent over his intentions for the 2020 polls has finally declared his intentions towards joining the race.

In a post on Facebook, which seem to mean that he is ready to lead Ghana again, John Mahama stated that he has heeded to the several calls of sympathizers and well-wishers while assuring them of not letting them down as a “servant-leader.”

The former flagbearer of the opposition National Democartic Congress (NDC) came under scrutiny after the party lost woefully to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2016 December polls.

Most senior members of the main opposition party accused ex-President John Dramani Mahama of running a failed campaign by surrounding himself with ‘young’ and ‘inexperienced’ people, leading to the party’s crushing defeat.

However Mahama blamed the loss to some irregularities but rejected the idea of gathering evidence of over-voting and other abnormalities because his party campaign was focused on institutionalizing democracy.

In a bid to assure the NDC of not giving failure a chance if he is voted as flagbearer of the party again, he stated, “To you the teeming supporters and sympathizers calling and requesting me to declare my intentions for the future, I wish to assure you today, that as a servant-leader, I have listened to your calls and reflected. I will not disappoint you even as we await the publication of the party’s guidelines for selecting a new leader.”



He noted to party faithfuls that, “The zeal and determination of the average sympathizer of our great party is greater and miles ahead of what it was after the December 2016 Elections” while encouraging party members that “we need to keep up with the momentum generated and follow the published timelines.”



Meanwhile, Ekow Spio-Garbrah, former Trade Minister; Professor Joshua Alabi, retired Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA); Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin and former CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah have declared their intentions to contest the flag bearer slot of the party.

Below is the full post by the former president.