There is a general belief that politics and politicians are incompatible with honesty, therefore when a politician is honest and truthful in his dealings and political life, it is considered a sin.

Former President John Dramani Mahama has committed this ‘sin’ which formed part of the reasons he lost the 2016 general elections. Prior to the 2016 elections, a lot happened in the country’s political circle, while the NPP and their presidential candidate Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his then-running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia were busily displaying dishonesty with a flurry of lies, the then President Mahama was stuck with clean and honest politics, he was too honest and truthful with Ghanaians and was never tempted to indulge in politics of deceit. After all, his integrity is important to him.

This view has been expressed by the Former President himself, he stated that although honesty is a great virtue, his decision to be honest about every struggle the country faced during his first tenure may have been one of the major challenges of his government.

"I was brought up to tell the truth at all times so when I was President, if things were not going well, I told the people of Ghana and what we were trying to do about it. I think my honesty was one of the major problems I had because I didn't think that I should fool my people", he said.

Nonetheless, it is refreshing to know that, losing the election has not suddenly transmogrified him into a liar or a deceptive politician, he emphasised the importance of elected officials being forthright with the electorate to build trust and credibility.

The dishonesty of this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government particularly amid the recent unprecedented economic hardship is disheartening and unfortunate.


During his first tenure, the Former President had a strong conviction that replacing the teacher and nursing training allowances with the students’ loan was in the best interest of Ghana, out of his honesty and forthrightness, he did not disingenuously hold onto that policy plan until he wins his second term before implementing it, as any other duplicitous politician would have done, he went ahead and implemented it in the best interest of Ghana, even though, he knew he would contest the 2016 election, and there might be consequences, yet he put national interest above his selfish political interest, this is honesty and integrity.

When the country was hit with the generational energy crises that reoccur at least once every decade, Former President Mahama, had two options; either to work and eliminate the deficit between supply and demand thereby managing the problem to bounce back in the future after he had won the 2016 elections, or work to address the root causes of the problem.

The Former president decided that it was important to be honest with Ghanaians and that it was time to end the recurrences of the energy crises and chose the latter and boldly declared that “I John Dramani Mahama, I will fix will fix the energy challenge, and not just manage it”. He opted for the more holistic but tedious and lengthy route of addressing the challenge.

This approach was aimed to totally eliminate the energy crises permanently, so he took the bull by the horns, this was a very bold decision with political consequences, yet he chose this path in the interest of the country. His political opponents took advantage of his honesty and dishonestly used the prolonged but inevitable energy crises to campaign against the nobleman.

This bold and honest decision ultimately fixed the root cause of the generational energy crises but affected John Dramani Mahama during the 2016 general elections. This is the perfect description of an honest and truthful man, a politician who is synonymous with honesty, truth, integrity and uprightness.

These are the ‘sins’ of Former President John Dramani Mahama, honesty, uprightness, forthrightness and candour.

It is important to appreciate and uphold honest and upright politicians like John Dramani Mahama, we should support and encourage leaders who are truthful and candid with us, it will compel other disingenuous politicians to learn to be truthful, this is the only way we can achieve national development.

Unlike the deceptive Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, there is every indication that Former President John Dramani Mahama will continue being honest and truthful to the good people of Ghana after winning the 7th December 2024 general elections.