The campaign team of former president John Mahama has expressed disappointment over the exclusion of Mr Mahama from a recent meeting involving the party’s Council of Elders and some flagbearer aspirants.

The team in a statement said the development appears to suggest that the campaign for the NDC flagbearer position is one of eight aspirants against Mr Mahama, and not a competition among the individual flagbearer hopefuls.

Eight flagbearer hopefuls of the NDC, on Thursday met with the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, and the Council of Elders, over what the aspirants described as exorbitant filing fees.

Although Mr Mahama did not publicly speak against the filing fees as other aspirants did, the campaign team in a statement believes it was unfair for him not to be included in the meeting.

Below is the full statement:

REACTION TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON FLAGBEARERSHIP ELECTION

The John Mahama Campaign has taken note of a meeting held between some aspirant petitioners and a sub-committee of the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in respect of guidelines for the impending flagbearership elections.

Whilst acknowledging the prerogative of the Council of Elders to meet with only the aspirant petitioners, it is our humble view that the said meeting could have included all other aspirants or their representatives, especially as the matters in issue border on the interest of all concerned.

The impending flagbearership election should be seen as a contest among individuals desirous of leading the NDC in the 2020 elections and not as one between a group of persons against a particular candidate.



The John Mahama 2020 campaign notes that the various aspirants earnestly began their campaigns in September 2018, following submission of letters of intent by the respective aspirants. Indeed, media content is replete with stories of the campaign activities of the various aspirants from all over the country. All aspirants have had unimpeded access to delegates across the length and breadth of the country and it is fair to say there is a level playing field.

As regards the concern that the Christmas festivities may interfere in campaign activities, we wish to note that in both 2000 and 2008, Ghana held presidential run off elections in the Yuletide season.

It is our humble view that the party has been so pre-occupied with internal elections that it has had very little time to focus on the full extent of the mis-governance of the Akufo-Addo administration. Therefore, the completion of the internal electoral processes would provide party leadership space and time to begin the process of formulating comprehensive strategies towards our collective victory in 2020.

We believe that we have the most marketed candidate in John Dramani Mahama. But in the most unlikely event of a different flagbearer emerging, a longer campaign period would inure to the benefit of that person. We have to be mindful of the 2019 timetable announced by the Electoral Commission and the need to ensure that the party provides ample space to participate in those activities.

In this regard, the John Mahama campaign acknowledges the changes in the guidelines, including the review of the date and reduction of filing fees announced by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC), following consultation with the Council of Elders.

We understand that the important consideration by National Executive Committee (NEC) that should there be a need for a run off after the 26th January 2019 elections, there should be ample time for it to take place before the expiration of the 7th March 2019 constitutional deadline.

The John Mahama campaign shares the view that the party needs to embark on new initiatives to raise funds for party activities in the medium to long-term. In the immediate instance, we appreciate the financial challenges of the National Executive Committee conducting the presidential primaries, which per the NDC’s constitution is time-bound.

Fulfilling our obligations as per the guidelines is in our view an aspect of fundraising for the successful conduct of the impending presidential primaries. Indeed the John Mahama Campaign similarly honoured its obligations in helping to raise funds to ensure the success of the recent national delegates Congress in Accra.

The John Mahama Campaign will continue to fully cooperate with the FEC, NEC and the Council of Elders to ensure that the larger interest of the party remains supreme at all times.

James Agyenim-Boateng
Spokesperson