It was not out of the ordinary, when the ten Regional NDC Chairmen blithesomely convened at the Cantonments office of Ex-president Mahama, and blissfully issued a statement which sought to beseech him (Mahama) to consider joining the flagbearership race for the 2020 election (See: NDC Regional Chairmen beg Mahama to lead the party in 2020 election; 3news.com/ghanaweb.com, 09/11/2017).

“[We have] called on HE John Dramani Mahama to consider the request of teeming supporters of the NDC and Ghanaians to lead the party to the 2020 General Elections”, the statement said.

I beg your pardon, there are not many Ghanaians who will shrill and thrill over the return of Ex-President Mahama, with the exception of a few NDC Party apparatchiks who probably laid hands on big chunks of the national cake.

Obviously, the praise singing bandwagon never experienced the harsh socio-economic standards of living their Messiah Mahama wilfully brought upon the nation. So, what do you expect? They will definitely clamour for the return of the spoon that over fed them.

Well, but the last time I checked, Professor Kwesi Botchwey had wisely directed the disintegrated lots to embark on a series of unity health walk.

And, if that was the case, how is the infamous decision of a few Regional Chairman to declare their support for a single candidate going to help to achieve the elusive unity?

The crucial question however is: is former President Mahama the only capable leader in the NDC Party?

I would, however, like to believe that the apparent idiosyncratic action taken by the ten Regional Chairmen will only deepen the existential cleavage in the party.

In fact, I will not be surprised a bit if the teeming supporters of the other potential presidential aspirants revolt against their Regional Chairmen’s controversial Cantonments declaration.

To be quite honest, I am struggling to get my head around how and why any real patriot would seek the return of someone who disastrously collapsed the country’s economy to the detriment of the impoverished Ghanaians.

So the Mahama loyalists would want us to believe that every single Ghanaian was oblivious to the happenings in the country prior to the 2016 general elections?

The fact of the matter is that the diehard NDC supporters were living in a denial about the harsh economic conditions prior to the 2016 general elections.

Back then, the vast majority of Ghanaians struggled to make a living or eke an income. The dreadful errors in decision-making, the incompetence and the unbridled corruption culminated in untold economic hardships.

Clearly, one cannot help, but to agree with those who insist that former President Mahama lacks effective leadership skills.

The sceptics argue that it was due to former President Mahama’s poor leadership qualities that a GH9.5 billion debt in 2009 rocketed to an incredible GH122.4 billion in just eight years.

Besides, the critics rightly maintain that former President Mahama’s irrevocable errors in decision-making accounted for Ghana’s economic downslide. For example, Ghana’s GDP shrunk from $47 billion to $37 billion in just five years.

Somehow, Ex-President Mahama’s decision-making came under sharp scrutiny when he abysmally dragged an economic growth of around 14 per cent in 2011 to a nauseating 3.6 per cent as of December 2016.

Moreover, the critics have been arguing forcefully that former President Mahama and his government’s woeful errors in judgement and alleged corrupt practices resulted in excessive public spending, less efficient tax system , needless high public deficit and destabilization of national budgets, heightened capital flight and the creation of perverse incentives that stimulate income-seeking rather than productive activities.

On the whole, the critics rightly contend that former President Mahama’s government remains the worst ever in the history of Ghana politics.

However, the loyalists of former President Mahama, such as the ten Regional Chairmen, are ridiculously holding a phantom hope that they could bring Ex-President Mahama back and recapture power from the NPP in 2020.

Well, I am not in a position to offer any advice to NDC Regional Chairmen on their choice of a suitable flagbearer.

But all that I could opine is that, judging from the harsh economic conditions Ghanaians experienced during Mahama’s maladaptive administration, it will take a miracle for discerning Ghanaians to easily forgive and vote Ex-President Mahama in 2020.