In so far as the 1992 Constitution of Ghana directs that every sound adult Ghanaian can vie for the presidential seat, not every bona fide Ghanaian can hold down the position and deliver efficiently to the high expectations of the good people of Ghana.

I have been maintaining consistently that a president of a nation is an important position and therefore it requires a serious, a committed, and a forward-thinking person to hold such position.

In a grand scheme of things, someone with a high calibre, vast life experience, a catalogue of suitable employable skills, a portfolio of relevant qualifications, tried and tested competencies and requisite knowledge should be a suitable candidate for the position.

Unfortunately, however, we are, more often than not, been relying on lousy officials whose only preoccupation is to sink the nation deeper and deeper into the mire through unpardonable incompetence and unbridled corruption.

It would thus appear that we, Ghanaians, are possessed with a grovelling characteristic of a sordid mind, and unfortunately, hate anything quality but rather prefer to worship mediocrity.

Thus, our leaders, having first-hand knowledge of our obsequious compliance, continue to take us for granted and keep offering perfunctory leadership.

We cannot deny or ignore the fact that the former president and the NDC’s 2024 flagbearer, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, holds an unmatched record of being the first incumbent president of Ghana to be voted out of power in his first term in office.

It is also right in mentioning that former President John Dramani Mahama has held a panorama of important positions in Ghanaian politics.

The former president began his political career first as an assemblyman, then as a parliamentarian, a deputy minister, a substantive minister, a vice president, as an acted president, as an elected president of Ghana, and the 2016 and 2020 flagbearer of NDC.

Interestingly, however, on 7th December 2016, about 55.6% of the electorates expressed their disappointments in his performance as the first gentleman of the land by showing him the exit. He lost by a huge margin of over one million votes. Indeed, it was the first in the history of Ghanaian politics.

The reflective observers thus found it extremely bizarre when the former president decided to wrestle with powering 2020.

Besides, observers would contend that former President Mahama had enough opportunity to show discerning Ghanaians his ability to steer Ghana to the right direction, but wilfully failed to do so and was rightly rejected by over one million electorates.

The sceptics would thus quiz in amazement: ‘what can Mahama do differently at the presidency next time around’?

Given the circumstances back then, we can confidently conclude that the 55.6% and 51.2% of electorates were not happy with former President Mahama, hence showing him the exit in the 2016 and 2020 general elections respectively.

The overarching question then is: what will make the unhappy 55.6% and 51.2% of electorates change their mind and repose their absolute trusts in Mahama in 2024, given the economic mess during his time in office in the absence of the globally diffused coronavirus and the protracted Ukraine/Russia conflict?

I would like to disagree with those who think that since the governance baton changes hands every 8 years, an NDC presidential candidate will most likely be sworn into office on 7th January 2025.
Of course, that has been the convention. But it is bound to change sooner rather than later.

Some of us were not the least surprised at all, when prior to the 2020 general elections, former President Mahama owned up to the unpardonable errors in decision-making which led to the massive economic mess.

There is no denying the fact that the former President made catastrophic mistakes during his tenure in office and therefore could not steer the nation in the right direction.

As a president, Mahama really disappointed the good people of Ghana with his laisser-faire style of leadership and the good people of Ghana rightly voted him out in 2016 and presented his pension package in 2020.

Therefore it is quite ironic that former President Mahama and his teeming supporters would move heaven and earth to reclaim the presidency given his terrible errors in judgement which led to the massive economic meltdown.

With all due respect, former President Mahama had enough opportunity to show discerning Ghanaians his ability to steer the nation in the right direction, but woefully failed to do so. So, what else does he want at the presidency?

Perhaps more than anything else, Ex-President Mahama and his teeming supporters are still holding on to the elusive belief that Ghanaians suffer from memory loss and therefore cannot recollect the revoltingly ugly events which took place under their watch.

If that were not the case, what would then drive the same person who brought the country to its knees through catastrophic decision-making to desperately stage a comeback?

Evidently, Former President Mahama did not work his socks off to improve on the socio-economic living standards of Ghanaians.

Take, for example, former President Kufuor worked strenuously and quadrupled Ghana’s GDP to a staggering GH28 billion in 2008, and the late Mills inherited oil in commercial quantities and managed to increase the GDP to GH47 billion by 2011.

But Ex-President Mahama disappointingly dragged the GDP to an incredible GH40billion as of December 2016 in the absence of the universally affected coronavirus and Ukraine/Russia intractable war.

In the gloomy days of dumsor under the Mahama administration, we witnessed plangent buzzing of generators all over the country. Most businesses folded up amid massive unemployment.

In those days, self-employers like Hairdressers, Ice Kenkey Sellers, Butchers, among others, were the worst affected.

The revoltingly annoying and costly buzzing of generators across the length and breadth of the country, unfortunately, went on for well over four years to the utter dismay of the good people of Ghana.

Considering the negative effects of dumsor, it would only take a disputatious character to suggest that discerning Ghanaians have soon forgotten and forgiven Mahama for wilfully collapsing their businesses through dumsor.

Given the circumstances, we can understand how and why some concerned Ghanaians, including some supporters within the NDC are expressing their arousing disgust over former President Mahama’s desperation to return to the presidency after being voted against massively in 2016 and 2020 due to his abysmal performance.

Former President Mahama and his NDC administration regrettably failed to end the dumsor, failed to implement the one-time NHIS premium, jobs were not readily available for the jobless, the economy sunk deeper and deeper into the mire, Ghanaians became poorer and poorer, sleazes and corruption escalated to immeasurable proportions, amongst others.

But despite the conspicuous economic meltdown back then, President Mahama and his apologists ridiculously kept trumpeting their vague rhetoric , political insobrieties and meaningless slogans-‘Mahama Tuaso’; ‘We care for you’; ‘people matter, you matter’; ‘we are transforming lives’.

Meanwhile the good people of Ghana were struggling endlessly to pay their utility bills and could not even afford their children school fees.

Incredibly, back then, whenever the suffering Ghanaians complained about the economic hardships, former President Mahama and his vociferous communicators would ungraciously chastise the same people who gave them the electoral mandate for expressing their grievances.

Former President Mahama, regrettably, could not pull his weight but only managed to undo all the excellent performances put in by his predecessors.

Take, for example, Mahama dragged the economic growth from 14% to 3.4%, GDP of GH47 Billion was reversed to GH40 billion, Agricultural growth of 7.5% was dragged to 2.5%, and single digit inflation was moved to 15.4%.

Whilst the Mahama teeming supporters are gleefully clamouring for his return, the concerned Ghanaians believe that it would be extremely disastrous if Mahama was to go back to the Jubilee House, notwithstanding the calamitous errors in judgement which led to the business crippling dumsor amid massive economic collapse(dragged 14% economic growth in 2011 to 3.4%, and 15.4% inflation in 2016) in the absence of the pernicious coronavirus and Russia/Ukraine protracted conflict.

Interestingly, in his time in Office, former President John Dramani Mahama was given a descriptive epithet, ‘the incompetent one’ by his adversaries. His opponents would argue that although there was no known diffused global crisis during his time in office, he could not manage the economy.

In his short spell at the presidency, the late Mills left an auspicious economic growth of 14%, and Mahama dragged it to a meagre 3.4%, the late Mills raised agricultural growth to 7.5%, and Mahama reversed it to 3.0%, the late Mills single digit inflation was perfunctorily raised to 15.4%, GDP of GH47Billion shrunk to GH40billion by Mahama in the absence of the ecumenically diffused coronavirus or Ukraine/Russia intractable conflict.

Unsurprisingly, prior to the 2020 general elections, the reputable Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported that former President John Dramani Mahama was going to find it extremely difficult to convince discerning Ghanaians into accepting that he is the preferable manager of Ghana’s economy.

In all this, the teeming supporters of former President Mahama are contending passionately that even if former President Mahama was perceived as incompetent during his tenure in office, there is no Messiah with the ‘Midas touch’ to turn around the fortunes of the country other than him.

The crucial question we should be asking the diehard supporters of former President Mahama is: if the former president indeed lived up to the expectations, why did over one million voters vote him out in 2016 and was rejected massively again in 2020?